Qtel suffers fall in Q3 revenues

Qtel reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of QAR710.9 million (US$195.2 million) for Q309, up nine per cent year-on-year. However consolidated revenues for the quarter were down four per cent year-on-year, from QAR6.2 billion in Q308 to QAR5.94 billion in Q309.

The telco said its mobile subscriptions in its home market of Qatar rose 44 per cent in the first nine months of the year to number 2.1 million at end-September, despite the debut of rival operator Vodafone Qatar in July. Subscriptions at Qtel’s Wataniya Telecom subsidiary, which has operations in six markets including Algeria, Kuwait and Tunisia, rose 17 per cent over the nine months to end-September to stand at 12.5 million. Subscriber numbers at Nawras, Qtel’s subsidiary in Oman were up 27 per cent year-on-year to 1.8 million at end-September.