(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
DOHA: Qatar-based telecom major Ooredoo Group's revenue rose to QR32.7bn for the year 2017. The Group's customer base expanded by 18 percent to 164 million during the period, the Group announced yesterday.
The 2017 increase in revenue was mainly driven by strong contributions from Indonesia, Iraq, Kuwait, Maldives and Oman. Excluding Foreign Exchange translation impact, revenues increased by 2 percent compared to the reported 1 percent revenue increase.
The significant expansion in the customer base was powered by multiple customer acquisition activities in Indonesia, Iraq, Oman, Algeria, Tunisia, Maldives and Palestine.
Ooredoo Group EBITDA increased 3 percent to QR13.8bn with a corresponding increase in EBITDA margin to 42 percent, indicating a further improvement in operational performance from FY 2016 (41 percent). Excluding Foreign Exchange translation impact, Group EBITDA increased by 4 percent year-on-year.
New government levies in Oman and one-off provision reversals in 2016 led to a decrease in Group net profit to Ooredoo shareholders by 10 percent to QR2bn. Excluding these, the normalized net profit attributable to Ooredoo shareholders increased by 1 percent.
Increased monetization of data business, with significant data growth coming from consumer and enterprise customers, saw data revenue increasing to 46 percent of Group revenue. Revenue from data contributed QR15.3bn in 2017, up 16 percent from QR13.1bn in 2016.
Group B2B revenue stood at QR5.5bn in 2017 reflecting Ooredoo's ongoing investment to support the growth of businesses, SMEs and governmental clients.
Ooredoo continues to be a data leader in its markets with 4G networks now available in 8 of Ooredoo's 10 markets. The networks have been further enhanced across all 4G markets. Wataniya Mobile launched services in the Gaza strip in October 2017, and is now able to target a significant market, with the Gaza strip constituting about 40 percent of the Palestinian market. Looking to next-generation network services, Ooredoo Qatar became one of the world's first companies to offer '5G Speed Experiences, with download speeds of up to 1 Gbps, in a special demonstration during Qatar's National Day in December 2017. Indosat Ooredoo was awarded 5 MHz of the 2.1 GHz spectrum from the Government of Indonesia in Q4 2017 after winning the spectrum auction, part of which will be used for 4G capacity. The company started deployment of seamless 4G coverage in high value areas outside of Java.
Commenting on the Group's solid results, Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo, said: '2017 was another very good year for Ooredoo Group, with growth in revenues, EBITDA, EBITDA margin and customer numbers. Most importantly, during 2017 we focused on what we do best: enrich people's digital and real-life journeys. We expanded access to 4G services in most of our operations and prepared our network for 4.5 and 5G.A significant moment for the year was the much awaited launch of operations in Gaza, Palestine, with the largest investment in telecommunications in Gaza in nearly two decades.
'We are proud to have received global recognition for enabling Qatar to have the fastest average broadband connection speeds in the Middle East and North Africa, and 7th-fastest in the world, and for leveraging the power of broadband for sustainable development.
Indosat Ooredoo celebrated its 50th anniversary during 2017, marked by numerous achievements not the least of which is its successful transformation into a leader in Indonesia's digital space.We maintain our leadership position and commitment to connecting and developing the citizens of emerging economies where we operate and are proud to now serve almost 164 million people. For our shareholders we continue to deliver long-term growth and value. The Board of Directors proposed a cash dividend of QR 3.5 for 2017. Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo said: 'I am pleased to report very solid results across the board. Group revenue increased 1 percent to QR 32.7 billion, driven by growth in Indosat, Iraq, Oman, Maldives and Kuwait. During 2017, we continued to streamline our operations and achieved significant savings in 2017, particularly through our focus on centralised purchasing and infrastructure sharing. As a result, we increased our EBITDA by 3 percent to QR13.8bn and improved our EBITDA margin to 42 percent.
We are a well monetized data business, with QR15.3bn in data revenue now accounting for 46 percent of our total revenues.
In our home market in Qatar we became one of the world's first companies to offer '5G Speed Experiences. Our biggest international operation, Indosat Ooredoo delivered another year of growth, with increases in revenue and EBITDA. Ooredoo Oman increased its fixed service customers by one third, while Ooredoo Kuwait, Ooredoo Algeria and Ooredoo Tunisia expanded 4G coverage to cater for the increased data traffic. With a strong efficiency programme, Ooredoo Myanmar reported positive EBITDA for the first time on a full year basis. Ooredoo Qatar delivered positive results for the year, building on its close links with the community and record of innovation.The company gained further value market share. It also ensured sustainable free cash flow levels via a series of cost optimisation programmes.Revenue stood at QR7.8bn, while EBITDA was QR3.9bn.
Network enhancement programmes delivered a significant upgrade of data services in 2017. In December, the company was able to offer customers a '5G speed experience as part of Qatar National Day celebrations. The roll-out of Ooredoo Fibre connected another 55,000 homes in 2017. Digital entertainment also delivered good revenue growth, with Ooredoo tv attracting more than 100,000 customers by the end of the year.
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