Wataniya Q1 profit slides by 31%

Wataniya Telecom, which is 92 per cent owned by Ooredoo, reported quarterly profits of KWD19.5 million (US$68.7 million) for Q113, down 31 per cent from KWD 28.3 million a year ago.

The company ended the quarter with 19.4 million customers, as compared to 18.1 million a year ago.

Wataniya explained that the fall in profits was a result of higher competition in Kuwait, a weak economy in Tunisia and foreign exchange fluctuations in Algeria.

The cellco has subsidiaries in Algeria, Kuwait, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, The Palestinian Territories, and Tunisia.