Omantel Q3 profits slide

Oman Telecommunications (Omantel) reported a 21 per cent drop in its third quarter profits of OMR 84 million (US$214 million), alongside a 3.9 percent rise in revenues to OMR 316 million (US$817 million), the majority of which can be attributed to the increase in the domestic retail revenue of two per cent.

The group expenses reached OMR 224 million, compared to a figure of OMR 191 million for the corresponding period of last year, due to the aggressive expansion of 3.5G network and the depreciation resulting from introducing new technologies on the network.

The decline in net profit is attributed to an increase in expenses driven by a massive investment in expanding the network, transforming the network into an IP core intelligent network and the deployment of other new technologies. Furthermore, the net profit for the corresponding period of 2009 includes certain one off items relating to the settlement of an insurance claim and a reversal of bad debts.

The group’s subscriber base reached 3.3 million as of September 2010 – a growth ate of 10.3 per cent on the previous year. The subscriber base includes Worldcall subscribers, which saw growth by 7.6 per cent year-on-year to reach 852,000. Worldcall is a Pakistan-based operation.

Omantel reported that its Oman Mobile subscriber base grew by 20 per cent compared to year-on-year.