Senegalese telecommunications group Sonatel has published its full year financial results for 2011 showing that EBITDA climbed 3% year-on-year to XOF334.91 billion (USD668 million) and revenue rose 6.5% to XOF635.36 billion. However, FY11 net profit dropped 16% in the same period to XOF154.37 billion, from XOF184.76 billion in FY10, following the removal of a corporate tax exemption it once enjoyed in Mali. Further, the Senegal-based telco bemoaned an unhelpful regulatory and tax climate – particularly in its home market – but that it hopes its margins will remain strong despite the unfavourable conditions. The group’s consolidated EBITDA margin dipped by one percentage point to 53% in FY2011, but the carrier is optimistic it can keep its margin above 50% in fiscal 2012.
In a statement Sonatel, which operates in four west African markets, said: ‘The end of the corporate tax exemption in Mali confirmed the decline in the group’s net income but it did not end our ability to generate cash and maintain a good dividend policy’. The statement went on to note that growth in terms of incoming traffic was put under pressure as a result of a surtax on incoming calls to Guinea and Senegal. Sonatel, part-owned by France Telecom-Orange, said it has a total market share of 61% in Senegal, up by 1% y-o-y; 30% in Guinea, up by two percentage points; and 37% in Guinea-Bissau, up by 6%. However, stiff competition saw its market share slump 9% in Mali.