Omantel reports 5% rise in FY09 net profit

Oman’s incumbent fixed line operator Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) has announced that its net profit for the twelve months ended 31 December 2009 rose 5% year-on-year to OMR125.2 million (USD323.9 million). The company did not give a quarterly breakdown of its results, but Reuters calculated 4Q09 net profit at OMR19.4 million based on previous financial statements, up from OMR9.7 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The telco said that net income after tax climbed to OMR125 million during 2009 from OMR119 million, while sales rose by less than 1% to OMR412 million due to increased competition. Omantel said in November last year that it expects to make savings of about OMR2.8 million from voluntary redundancies it offered in 2009 in a move to reduce costs and make savings starting 2010 onwards. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, Omantel is 70%-owned by the state, with the remaining 30% held by private investors. In January 2010 the government revealed it may revive its plan to sell a 30% stake in the incumbent during the year, after a previous sale plan was scrapped due to the global financial crisis.