Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has reported a 13.1% rise in consolidated group revenue to QAR27.2 billion (USD7.5 billion) in full year 2010, up from QAR24.0 billion the previous year. Annual net profit attributable to Qtel shareholders grew by 2.2% to QAR2.9 billion and at 31 December 2010 the Qatari group’s consolidated customer base stood at 74.1 million, up from 60.5 million at end-2009, spanning 17 countries. EBITDA in 2010 increased by 11% over the year to QAR12.5 billion (FY 2009: QAR11.2 billion), although the EBITDA margin shrunk slightly, by one percentage point year-on-year to 46%.
Domestically, at the end of 2010 Qtel had 2.4 million mobile, fixed and broadband customers, roughly unchanged from the year before, whilst Qatari revenue of QAR5.4 billion in FY10 was down from QAR5.7 billion in 2009. EBITDA was impacted by tough competition from second national operator Vodafone Qatar, standing at QAR2.9 billion in the twelve-month period, down from QAR3.3 billion.
Amongst the group’s highlights for the year, Indonesian subsidiary Indosat’s total subscriber base reached 44.8 million at end-December 2010 (with the lion’s share on its mobile network), up from 33.6 million twelve months earlier. Revenue in 2010 was QAR7.9 billion (FY 2009: QAR6.6 billion) whilst EBITDA jumped from QAR3.2 billion in 2009 to QAR4.0 billion the following year.
Nawras in Oman posted a 9.3% increase in its overall customer base, closing 2010 at two million. Revenue also increased by around QAR300,000 year-on-year to QAR1.9 billion, with EBITDA performance also improving, up 17.1% on 2009 to QAR968 million in the year under review.
Iraqi cellco Asiacell delivered revenue growth in 2010 of 26.4% to QAR5.1 billion (FY09: QAR4.0 billion), and EBITDA also increased, growing 21.2% year-on-year to QAR2.6 billion from QAR2.2 billion in 2009. Asiacell continued to increase its subscriber base in the year, reaching 8.1 million mobile users at 31 December 2010, compared to 7.4 million a year earlier.