KUWAIT CITY: National Mobile Tele-communications Company K.S.C.P – Ticker: NMTC (Ooredoo) today announced its financial results for the first half of 2015:
■ Total customer base increased to 24.0 million at the close of 1H2015, versus 21.6 million for the same period in 2014, amounting to growth of 11.3%.
■ Revenues for H1 of 2015stood at KWD359.1 million ($1,187.7 million), compared with KD 379.4 million ($1,346.8 million) for the same period in 2014, a decrease of5.4%. However, in local currency, Ooredoo Kuwait, Ooredoo Algeria and Ooredoo Maldives have posted Revenue growth.
■ EBITDA for H1, 2015 was KD 120.9 million ($400.0 million), compared to EBITDA of KD138.0 million ($490.0 million) for the same period in 2014.
■ The consolidated Net Profit for the period was impacted by adverse currency movements in Tunisia (-11% YoY) and Algeria (-13% YoY) and foreign exchange losses of KD13.3million ($44.1 million) mainly from Algeria. The consolidated Net Profit for H1, 2015 was KD16.9 million ($55.8 million), compared to Net Profit for the same period in 2014 of KD 48.4 million ($171.8 million).
■ Net Profit attributable to NMTC in H1, 2015 was KD 14.8 million ($49.1 million) compared with a Net attributable profit of KD 37.9 million ($134.4 million) for the same period of 2014. Excluding the adverse impact of Foreign currency losses, Net Profit to NMTC would have been KD 23.8 million ($78.9 million) compared to KD 39.4 million ($139.7 million) in H1, 2014. Additionally, H1 2014 included one-off gains from discontinued business amounting to KD 3.6 Million.
■ The consolidated Earnings per Share was 29.6 fils ($9.8 cents), compared to 75.7 fils ($26.9cents) per share earned for the same period last year. Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al Thani, Chairman of the Board, commented: “Ooredoo Kuwait continued strong customer growth in the first half of 2015. Our customer base grew by 2.4 million, which is equivalent to an increase of 11% to 24 million in first half 2015 driven by Kuwait, Algeria and Maldives, where we delivered good growth in local currency revenues.
We maintained our market leadership position in Tunisia and continued to implement our strategy in Palestine. Net profit was impacted mainly due to adverse currency movements in Algeria and Tunisia. This customer and revenue growth performance demonstrates the progression and delivery of our strategy to invest in differentiating our customer experience, whilst providing world-leading network speeds delivered through innovative technology.
With the fastest LTE Advanced network in Kuwait, we continue to make it easier for our customers to access and experience high quality, high speed data services. We will continue to execute on our datacentric strategy to take advantage of the opportunities offered by an increasingly digital world.” The Group’s operational performance can be summarized as follows: Ooredoo — Kuwait Ooredoo’s customer base in Kuwait was 2.5 million at the end of H1, 2015, an increase of 7.8% on the same period in 2014. Revenues for H1, 2015 were KD 91.3 million ($301.9 million), an increase 8.0% compared to 2014 of KD 84.5 million ($300.1 million). EBITDA was KD 20.5 million ($67.9 million) versus EBITDA for H1, 2014 of KD 18.2 million ($64.5 million), an increase by 13.0%. Net Profit was at KD 4.5 million ($14.9 million), compared to KD 4.6 million ($16.4 million) for the same period in 2014. Ooredoo – Tunisia Ooredoo’s Tunisia customer base at the end of 1H 2015decreased to 7.3 million customers, a decrease of 1.0%.
During H1, 2015, the Tunisian Dinar depreciated by 11% over 1H2014 which has significantly impacted the results shown in KD. Revenues for 1H 2015 were KD 75.5 million ($249.9 million), compared to revenues for the same period in 2014 of KD 92.7 million ($329.1 million). EBITDA was KD 33.9 million ($112.0 million) compared to KD 43.5 million ($154.6 million) for the same period last year representing a decrease of 22.3%. The Net Profit decreased to KD 8.6million ($28.5 million) a decrease of 39.2% when compared with KD 14.2 million ($50.4 million) for the same period in 2014. The Net Attributable Profit to Ooredoo for H1, 2015 was KD 6.5 million ($21.4 million), compared to KD 10.6 million ($37.8 million) for the same period in 2014.
Ooredoo – Algeria Ooredoo’s customer base in Algeria at the end of 1H of 2015 was 13.2 million customers, an increase of 21.2%. During H1 2015, the Algerian Dinar depreciated by 13% over H1 2014 which has significantly impacted the results shown in KD. Revenues for H1of 2015 were KD 168.8 million ($558.3 million), a decrease of 7.6% compared with revenues of KD182.6 million ($648.1 million) for the same period in 2014. EBITDA for H1 2015 was KD 60.5 million ($200.1 million), a decrease of 17.4% on KD73.2 million ($260.0 million) for the same period in 2014. The total Net Profit for H1 2015 was KD 3.5 million ($11.5 million) compared to a total Net Profit of KD 29.5 million ($104.7 million) for the same period in 2014. The Net Attributable profit to Ooredoo for 1H 2015 was KD 2.5 million ($8.1 million) compared to a Net Attributable Profit of KD 20.9 million ($74.4 million) for the same period in 2014.
Excluding the losses caused by depreciation of DZD, the Attributable Net Profit to Ooredoo would be KD 10.4 Million ($34.4 Million). Wataniya – Palestine The total customer base for Wataniya Mobile Palestine at the end of H1 2015 was 0.7 million, a decrease of 2.6% from the same period of 2014. Revenues for 1H of 2015 were KD 12.1 million ($39.9 million), a decrease of 0.1% compared to the revenues of KD 12.1million ($42.8 million) for the same period in 2014. EBITDA for H1 2015 was KD 1.7 million ($5.6 million) a decrease of 4.4%, compared to an EBITDA of KD1.8 million ($6.3 million). The total Net Loss for 1H 2015 was KD 2.4 million ($7.8 million) compared to a total Net Loss of KD2.3 million ($8.2 million). The Net Attributable Loss for the 1H of 2015stood at KD 1.1 million ($3.8 million) compared to a Net Attributable Loss of KD 1.1 million ($4.0 million) for the same period in 2014. Ooredoo – Maldives Maldives total customer base at the end of 1H 2015 was 0.3 million, an increase of 21.7% from the same period of 2014.
Revenues for H, 2015 were KD 11.4 million ($37.7 million), an increase of 52.0%, compared to KD 7.5 million ($26.7 million) for the same period 2014. EBITDA for the H1, 2015 was KD 5.4 million ($17.7 million) an increase of 124.2%, compared to an EBITDA of KD 2.4 million ($8.5 million). The Net Attributable Profit for H1, 2015 was KD 2.6 million ($8.7 million) compared to the Net Attributable Profit of KD 0.1 million ($0.5 million) for the same period in 2014. The KD to US conversion rate used for H1, 2015 is 0.30234 and for H1, 2014 is 0.28173.
