Vodafone Qatar’s 9M losses narrow to USD41.1m

Qatar’s second national operator (SNO) Vodafone Qatar has reported to the local stock market that it made a net loss of QAR149.8 million (USD41.1 million) in the nine months ended 31 December 2014 – the first nine months of the UK-Qatari company’s financial year – having narrowed its losses from the QAR213.2 million reported in the year-ago period. However, the mobile/fixed operator, which launched in 2009, made a net loss of QAR68.8 million in the three months to end-December 2014, according to Reuters calculations, wider than the loss of QAR53.3 million in October-December 2013, due to intensified competition with Ooredoo Qatar in the pre-paid mobile sector. Vodafone Qatar chairman Khalid bin Thani al-Thani stated: ‘The Qatari telecom market has witnessed some major changes in the period, in particular the pre-paid segment due to extremely competitive pressure on prices … We intend to invest heavily in our network over the next few months.’