Qatar-based telecoms operator Ooredoo Group’s customer base reached 118 million at the end of the first quarter of 2015, a 6% or seven million year-on-year increase, driven by strong take-up in Myanmar, Indonesia, Algeria and Qatar. Group revenue reached QAR7.888 billion (USD2.164 billion) in Q1 2016, down by 2% y-o-y, although excluding foreign exchange translation impact, revenue would have increased by 1%, supported by strong growth in Oman, Indonesia, Myanmar, Kuwait and the Maldives. Group EBITDA fell 1% y-o-y to QAR3.179 billion in 1Q16, with a stable EBITDA margin of 40%, whilst group net profit rose by 75% to QAR879 million mainly due to positive forex impact in Indonesia and Myanmar. Excluding the forex impact and one-off gains from investments, net profit would have been in line with the previous year. The group also noted that data revenue accounted for 38% of total group revenue in January-March 2016 compared to 30% in Q1 2015 ‘due to Ooredoo’s focus on network expansion and modernisation and its strategy of marketing innovative data services for individuals and businesses’.
Domestically, Ooredoo Qatar posted a 1% y-o-y increase in net profit to QAR484 million in Q1 2016 while Qatari EBITDA fell to QAR941 million from QAR980 million a year earlier. Qatar customers increased 6% in twelve months to 3.5 million at the end of March 2016, while Qatari revenues stood at almost QAR2 billion (around a quarter of total group revenue), in line with the year-ago period.