News
Telecoms operator reports revenue slide on Iraq security issues, currency volatility.
Ooredoo this week posted a solid set of figures for the fourth quarter of 2015 and the full year, but its results were impacted by currency issues in certain markets.
The Qatar-based telecoms group said its performance was
hurt by the security situation in Iraq and adverse currency movements in Indonesia, Algeria, and Tunisia.
Ooredoo posted revenues of 7.97 billion riyals (€2.02 billion) for the three months to the end of December, down by 5% on the year-ago quarter, while full-year turnover slipped by 3% to QAR32.16 billion (€8.14 billion). Excluding the foreign exchange impact, its full-year figure would have grown by 4%, it said.
EBITDA came in at QAR3.01 billion, up 11% year-on-year, while full-year earnings crept up by 1% to QAR13.02 billion.
"Ooredoo Group’s performance was robust during 2015 as we generated organic revenue growth in local currency terms in Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Algeria, Indonesia, Myanmar, Palestine and Maldives," said Ooredoo CEO Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, in a statement.
He added that the group delivered particularly strong performances in its home market and in Oman, where it recorded double-digit revenue and EBITDA growth.
"This was partially offset by the challenges with the security situation in Iraq, a weakened Tunisian macro-economic environment and currency volatility in emerging markets," Al Thani said.
The group reported having a consolidated customer base of 117 million at the end of 2015, up 10 million over the 12 months.
Net profit attributable to shareholders for 2015 came in at QAR 2.12 billion, down slightly from QAR2.13 billion a year earlier.
