Indosat deal delays Qtel’s 1H results, as Wataniya reports a drop in profitability

Qatar Telecom has said the delay in the disclosure of its half-yearly financial results to end-June will not exceed September 15, 2008. The Qatari telco said the delay is due to extra time required to consolidate the financial results of PT Indosat, which was acquired by Qtel in June 2008.

Qtel is aiming to becoming a top-20 global telecoms firm by 2020

Qtel commented that the delay is necessary and the telco believes the action to be in the best interests of shareholders so that the reported audited consolidated financial statements include the results of PT Indosat. Indosat is Indonesia’s second telecoms operator with a subscriber base that reached 27 million users as of end-March 2008.

Qtel has reached a settlement with the Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) with regards the delay of the disclosure of its half-yearly financial results. Qtel has further obtained approval from The Abu Dhabi Securities and Commodities Authority to disclose its half-yearly financial results by September 15.

Meanwhile another Qtel investment, Wataniya Telecom late last month reported consolidated net profit of KD 42.6 million (US$160 million) for the first half of 2008 to end-June. However, this marked a 2.7 per cent fall in net profit year-on-year. Revenue for the first half of 2008 reached KD 230 million, up 19.7 per cent year on year, while subscriber numbers topped 10.37 million, up 39.3 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Wataniya Telecom is a 40 per cent shareholder in Wataniya Palestine Mobile Telecommunications Company (WPT) and while it was awarded a licence to operate a 2G/3G network as Palestine’s second mobile operator in March 2007, until now the licensee has been unable to secure spectrum. On July 28 the licensee announced receipt of an official communication from the Palestinian Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology (MTIT) confirming that an agreement had been reached for spectrum to be allocated to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

The spectrum agreement, which provides for a staged release of radio frequencies over the next several months, meets key requirements to enable construction and commercial launch of Wataniya Palestine’s mobile network. The released spectrum frequencies will be allocated by the PNA to Wataniya Palestine, which was established in December 2006 as a joint venture between Wataniya Telecom and the Palestine Investment Fund.

The licensee hopes to launch at some point early in the new year.