KUWAIT: National Mobile Telecommunications Company NMTC (Ooredoo) announced its financial results for the year of2014 here the other day.
* Total customer base increased to 23.2 million at the close of 2014, versus 19.9 million for the same period in 2013, amounting to growth of 16.4percent.
* Revenues for year of 2014 amounted to KD 748.5 million ($2,553.9 million), compared with KD 731.1 million ($2,590.9 million) for the same period in 2013, equal to growth of 2.4percent.
* EBITDA for year of 2014 was KD 242.8 million ($828.4 million), compared to EBITDA of KD 281.3 million ($996.9 million) for the same period in 2013.
* The consolidated Net Profit for the quarter was impacted by customer acquisition investments in Algeria to acquire 3G market share, Foreign Exchange losses due to depreciation of Algerian Dinar and a one off restructuring cost in Tunisia. Excluding the above the normalised net profit attributable to NMTC shareholders for Q4 2014 is KD 11.0 million (Q4 2013 KD 14.7 million – adjusted for Foreign Exchange impact))
* The consolidated Net Profit for year of 2014 was at KD 53.7 million ($183.2 million), compared to Net Profit for the same period in 2013 of KD 97.8 million ($346.7 million). The net attributable profit to Ooredoo in year of 2014 was KD 45.7 million ($155.9 million) compared with a net attributable profit of KD 76.1 million ($269.7 million) for the same period of 2013.
* The consolidated Earnings per Share was 91 fils ($31 cents), compared to 152 fils ($54 cents) per share earned for the same period last year.
Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al-Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo Kuwait (NMTC) commented:
“NMTC’s consolidated financial results for the year reflect our consistent and successful strategy of investment into cutting-edge technology, segmented marketing products and high customer service levels.
On the back of this strategy, we have continued to grow our market share in Algeria through our 3G leadership, have maintained our revenue market share leadership in Tunisia and stabilized and grown our market share in Kuwait.
The Net Profit was impacted mainly due to one-off costs in Algeria, Tunisia and Foreign Exchange losses primarily due to depreciation of the Algerian dinar. Overall, at the end of 2014, given the initiatives undertaken, the business is well positioned to capture further market opportunities in 2015”.
Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al-Thani also declared that the Board decided to submit a recommendation to the AGM to distribute cash dividends to the Company Shareholders valued 70percent of the nominal value of share, which is equivalent to 70 fils.
