Ooredoo posted an 89% slide in net profit in the fourth quarter of last year and saw EBITDA drop by 21% on the back of forex issues and Myanmar start-up costs, while the security situation in Iraq continued to have an impact on its business.
The Qatar-based operator reported net profit of 55 million riyals (€14 million) for the three months to the end of December, on revenues of QAR8.37 billion (€2.13 billion). Turnover was flat on the previous year.
Meanwhile, quarterly EBITDA came in at QAR2.71 billion and the telco’s EBITDA margin narrowed to 32%, from 41% in the year-ago quarter.
For the full year, revenue was down 2% to QAR33.21 billion, EBITDA fell by 12% to QAR12.95 billion, and net profit dropped 17% to QAR2.13 billion.
"Excluding the impact of Indonesian foreign exchange, Myanmar start-up costs and one-off customer acquisition costs in Algeria, EBITDA would have decreased by 5% compared to the reported 12% reduction," Ooredoo said in a statement published late Tuesday.
It added that the same factors hit its bottom line.
The telco’s EBITDA was also affected by "aggressive price competition in Iraq," as well as the difficult security issues in that market, and investment in broadband networks, the introduction of the Ooredoo brand across its operating footprint, and customer acquisition costs.
"Ooredoo made significant progress against its strategy during 2014 despite facing sustained, high levels of competition, adverse currency movements and the current security situation in Iraq," Ooredoo group CEO Nasser Marafih said, in a statement.
Marafih added that the telco will continue to invest in its infrastructure and to grow data revenues, which now represent 25% of group revenue. The telco’s strategy is to become a data-centric business.
Data has been particularly important in Ooredoo’s newest market Myanmar.
The telco launched services in Myanmar in August and by the end of the year had signed up 2.2 million customers, more than 80% of whom use smartphones.
