Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel), the Sultanate’s incumbent telecoms operator, has posted revenue of OMR238.6 million (USD617.8 million) for the six months ended 30 June 2014, a slight decrease of 0.3% from OMR239.3 million in the year-ago period. The firm said revenue from Pakistani subsidiary Worldcall Telecommunications fell by 28%, mainly due to a reduction in the wireless in the local loop segment, while growth in domestic revenues was driven by fixed broadband and mobile data. Net profit for the first half of 2014 was OMR65.9 million, up 8.9% from OMR60.5 million in 1H13, while group operating expenses declined by 3.5% to OMR169.1 million from OMR175.2 million over the same period, which was mainly attributed to a decrease in external administration and depreciation expenses.
Commenting on the results, Omantel CEO Talal bin Said Al Mamari said: ‘Omantel has continued to see a steady growth especially in the net profit despite the decline of revenue from some services, which has been offset by the growth of mobile and fixed broadband services’. Total Omantel subscribers (including Worldcall) reached 4.170 million at mid-2014, an increase of 5.5% from 3.953 million a year earlier, while the firm’s domestic customer base increased 6.8% year-on-year to 3.233 million (excluding mobile resellers).