(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- Ooredoo Oman reported increases in its revenue and customer base for the year ended December 31, 2017. The company's revenue increased 1.3 per cent to RO273.6mn for 2017 from RO270mn in the previous year.
The growth in total revenue is driven by increases in both mobile and fixed data revenues, Ooredoo said in its audited financial results for 2017 which was announced to the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) on Thursday.
Ooredoo's total customer base in Oman grew 4.2 per cent to 3.07mn customers as of the end of 2017 from 2.94mn a year ago.
However, Ooredooo said its net profit for 2017 was impacted by increases in royalty fee (from seven per cent to 12 per cent) and income tax rate (from 12 per cent to 15 per cent) as well as higher depreciation cost due to investment in network modernisation.
Ooredoo's net profit for 2017 dropped by 33 per cent to RO31mn compared with RO46.3mn in 2016.
Ooredoo announced that its board of directors decided to recommend to shareholders a dividend payment of 42bz per share, representing 88 per cent of net profit for the year 2017. The dividend payment is subject to approval of shareholders at the company's annual general meeting on March 5. Following the announcement, Ooredoo shares surged by 7.72 per cent at the MSM on Thursday.
Ooredoo's fixed service customer base recorded a sharp rise of 33.7 per cent to 117,535 in 2017 compared to 87,907 in the previous year. While mobile post-paid customer base grew 1.7 per cent to 222,040 customers in 2017, mobile pre-paid customer base increased 3.5 per cent to 2.73mn.
Commenting on the results, chairman of Ooredoo Oman, Sayyed Amjad Mohamed al Busaidi, said: 'The past year has been another show of strength, with Ooredoo continuing to show growth in what was a year of unpredictability. Through perseverance and consolidation of our investments of previous years, we saw another strong financial performance.
The 2017 was a year in which we focused on our commitment to investing in the digital future of both telecommunications and the country; striving to enrich the digital lives of all of our customers. It was also a year in which we looked inwards on the company and established our Tahhadi programme, aimed at enhancing data experience leadership through a set of values and objectives.'
He said Ooredoo maintained its commitment to giving customers the ultimate way to 'enjoy the Internet', with the extension of their superfast fibre coverage. With speeds of up to 1Gbps and unlimited data, the rollout started with over 1,500 homes being connected in Muscat, followed by rapid expansion across Muscat and beyond.
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