Wataniya reports 8.5% increase in Kuwaiti revenues

Kuwait’s National Mobile Telecommunications Company, which operates under the Wataniya brand, has reported revenues of KWD163.5 million (USD577.3 million) for the nine months ended 30 September 2010. This figure represents an increase of 8.5% compared to the same period a year earlier. EBITDA for the period reached KWD71.8 million compared to KWD68.9 million, a rise of 4.2%. Net profit was reported at KWD49.4 million compared to KWD97 million in 2009. However, after excluding the one-off gains in the first nine months of 2009 – Wataniya was awarded KWD52.1 million in damages relating to licence fees by the Ministry of Communications in Q2 2009 – net profit increased by 10% year-on-year. In operational terms, Wataniya Kuwait’s subscriber base increased to 1.72 million customers at the end of Q3 2010, an increase of 18% year-on-year. Wataniya chairman Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani commented: ‘The third quarter of 2010 was another successful period for Wataniya Telecom, showing continuous growth in customers, revenue and EBITDA. In our home market of Kuwait, we continue to address the competitive pressures and increased our share in the market’.