(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman Telecommunications Co (Omantel) has posted an 18.1 per cent increase in first-quarter net profit to RO34.4mn, compared with RO29.1mn in the corresponding period of last year. Revenue rose five per cent to RO120.2mn from RO114.5mn.
The rise in net profit was the result of growth in the company's operations, especially wholesale - which has jumped by 29 per cent, Omantel said in a press release, detailing its preliminary quarterly results.
Fixed and mobile businesses continued its growth plateau mainly driven by mobile and fixed broadband and corporate data services. However, SMS, national and international call revenues declined compared with the corresponding period.
The total domestic subscriber base (including mobile and fixed businesses) reached 3.11mn (excluding mobile resellers), recording a growth rate of 5.3 per cent over last year. The group subscriber base reached 4.04mn. compared with 3.88mn in the corresponding period of the previous year, a growth of 4.1 per cent. The subscriber base includes WTL subscribers, which has now reached 929,000.
Group operating expenses declined by 0.9 per cent to RO83.1mn from RO83.9mn. The decline has been attributed to several cost-optimisation initiatives carried out by the company.
The performance of WorldCall Telecom improved in the first quarter, with the Pakistani subsidiary posting a net profit of RO0.89mn, compared with a loss of RO997,000 in the same period of 2013.
Commenting on the results, Omantel chief executive officer Dr Amer al Rawas said, ''We are proud to see these results, which reaffirm the success of Omantel strategy to improve its operations benefitting from the unique geographical location of the sultanate, the robust nationwide infrastructure and the extensive international connectivity Omantel has through 11 international submarine cable systems out of nine are already operational.
''Omantel's clear strategy, developed five years ago, to grow the company's international wholesale business has enabled us to achieve these results. We are now able to sell international capacity as we have invested heavily in enhancing our international connectivity as well as hosting global content and data centres, which have made Omantel the preferred partner for various international operators,'' Rawas added.
The preliminary first-quarter results are subject to the approval of the company's board of directors, the release added.
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