Batelco Q2 profits drop 20 per cent

Batelco attributed a 20 per cent decline in net profits to increasing competition in its domestic market, as well as growing start-up costs for its Indian venture S-Tel. Net profit decreased to BHD 22.3 million (US$59.2 million) from BHD 27.9 million a year earlier, while revenues tightened by 2.4 per cent to stand at BHD 84.8 million.

“Gross revenues did not grow in the first half predominantly due to the entry of the third mobile operator in the Bahrain market,” chairman Shaikh Hamad Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa said in a statement, referring to the entry in March of Viva Bahrain, a subsidiary of Saudi’s STC. Zain is the second mobile provider in the country.

“Reduced market share for mobile and broadband services and strong price erosion adversely affected our revenues and profits,” he added.

Active mobile subscribers surged 47 percent during H110 to reach 6.88 million, while broadband Internet users increased 54 percent to 230,600. The group’s total number of subscribers is 7.3 million.