Ooredoo reports 13.6% rise in Q1 profits

Ooredoo today reported revenue for Q113 to end-March 2013 amounted to QAR8.442 billion (US$2.32 billion), up 5.2 per cent year-on-year and driven by strong performance in the group’s home market of Qatar, in addition to further strong momentum from international group operations in Algeria, Indonesia and Iraq.

As at March 31, the group’s consolidated customer base stood at 91 million (Q112: 84.4million), representing year-on-year growth of 7.7per cent. Group EBITDA in the period decreased by 3.1 per cent year-on-year to QAR3.7 billion, while Q113 EBITDA margin stood at 44 per cent, down from 48per cent a year earlier.

Net profit attributable to Ooredoo shareholders rose to QAR808 million, up 13.6 per cent year-on-year, including the impact of the increased shareholding in Asiacell and Wataniya.

Revenue in Qatar grew by 4.9 per cent year-on-year to QAR1.6 billion, while EBITDA decreased to QAR771 million, down 3.4 per cent. Ooredoo Qatar’s consolidated customer base stood at 2.7 million at the end of Q113, up 300,000 from a year previously.

In Q113 Asiacell delivered revenue of QAR1.7 billion, up 5.6 per cent year-on-year. EBITDA in Q1 was down slightly by 1.7 per cent year-on-year to QAR900 million.