Qatar Telecom 2nd quarter profit jumps 59 pct, lifted by Wataniya

Qatar Telecommunications Co (Qtel) on Sunday said quarterly profits jumped 59 percent, buoyed by a one-time gain at its Kuwaiti unit. Qtel posted net profit of 1,044 billion riyals ($287 million) in the second quarter, up from 658.5 million riyals in the prior-year period. Qtel booked a 343 million riyal gain after its Kuwait business, National Mobile Telecommunications (Wataniya), won a court ruling reversing provisions it had set aside in a dispute with Kuwait’s ministry of communications.

•  “Certainly it’s not an outstanding result, which it appears to be at first glance,” said Kunal Bajaj, an analyst at HSBC. “It’s more or less in line with expectations.” One analyst had forecast profit of 615 million riyals in the quarter, according to a Reuters survey in July. Consolidated revenues rose 30 percent to 5.9 billion riyals in the quarter ended June 30, up from 4.6 billion a year ago.
•  The company, which does not provide earnings forecasts, said the outlook for the second half of the year seemed positive.
• “The economic conditions generally are improving,” a company spokesman said on a conference call. Qtel said it earned profit of 1.64 billion riyals in the first half of the year on revenues of 11.54 billion. That is up from 1.2 billion riyals in the same period last year, on revenues of 8.1 billion riyals. Total customers stood at 52.2 million as of June 30, up 2 percent from the same period last year. Qtel, which owns a controlling stake in Indonesia’s second largest telecoms firm, said Indosat contributed the most to both customer base and revenues, with 29.4 million customers and 3 billion riyals in revenue in the first half of 2009.
• Qtel shares closed up 3.28 percent on the Doha index
• Faced by intensifying competition in their home markets, Gulf Arab telecom firms have been expanding abroad, snapping up assets in Asia and Africa worth billions of dollars. State-controlled Qtel has expanded rapidly outside its home country into 17 countries, including Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria and Oman. Its focus has been on acquisitions in the Middle East and North Africa region, the Indian subcontinent as well as south east Asia. Qtel bought a 40.8 percent stake in Indosat in June 2008 and raised its holding to 65 percent in February. Asked whether Qtel may be eyeing African expansion, the spokesman said: “That’s not part of our stated strategy.”
• “Having said that, we are flexible in our approach. If there is an opportunity which adds shareholder value, we might look at it.”
• He declined to comment on any Qtel interest in the African assets of Kuwaiti rival Zain which has put those operations on the auction block.
• Prime Holding analyst Sleiman Aboulhosn said buying into Africa made sense for expansion given the dearth of new licenses available globally.
• “If the price is right, it would definitely be interesting for them and I think they are in a position to be expanding inorganically,” he said. “But not all operators can find value in Africa in the current situation.
• Wataniya Telecom (National Mobile Telecommunications Company K.S.C. – Ticker: NMTC) announces its first half 2009 financial results with the Company posting an EBITDA of KD 92.6 million ($322.8 million), first half of 2008 EBITDA was KD 97.0 million ($338.4 million). Additionally, the company reports a consolidated net profit of KD 78.8 million ($274.9 million) for first half of 2009 or 157 fils (55 cents) per share, compared with KD 42.6 million ($148.6 million), or 85 fils (30 cents) per share earned in first half of 2008.
• Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani, Chairman of Wataniya Telecom commented, “Wataniya Telecom maintained its profitability in the second quarter of the year despite ongoing competitive pressures in Kuwait. We continue to look forward to the establishment of an independent regulatory body in Kuwait to allow proper interconnection arrangements to be put in place. A one-off favourable ruling regarding fees for pre paid subscribers saw Net Profit increase substantially in the quarter. The Company continues to expand its customer base in all its territories with the total customer base now over 11.8 million (7.9 million on a proportionate basis).”
• Wataniya Telecom Group Highlights:
• * Total active customers increased to 11.9 million in the first half of 2009 versus 10.4 million at first half of 2008, representing an increase of 14.4 percent.
• * Revenues for the first half of 2009 were at KD 232.8 million ($812.1 million), revenues for first half of 2008 were KD 230.0 million ($802.3 million).
• * EBITDA for the first half 2009 were KD 92.6 million ($322.8 million), and EBITDA were at KD 97.0 million ($338.4 million) for first half of 2008.
• * Consolidated earnings per share is 157 fils (55 cents) for first half 2009 compared to 85 fils (30 cents) per share earned in first half 2008.
• Wataniya Kuwait’s customer base increased to 1.40 million customers, an increase of 9.8 percent from Q2 2008. Revenues for first half were KD 101.2 million ($352.9 million), and revenues for first half of 2008 were at KD 112.2 million ($391.5 million). EBITDA was KD 48.7 million ($169.8 million), and first half of 2008 was at KD 58.9 million ($205.4 million).
•  Net profit for first half of 2009 was at KD 83.3 million ($290.7 million), first half of 2008 Net profit was at KD 40.8 million ($142.6 million). In Q2 2009, Wataniya Kuwait, won a ruling against the Ministry of Communications regarding network license fees, which enabled the company to reverse the previously recorded accruals, net of related expense under Other operating income.
• Tunisia: Tunisiana customer base was 4.40 million customers – an increase of 13.0 percent from Q2 2008. Revenues for first half 2009 were KD 47.6 million ($165.9 million), and the revenues for first half of 2008 were at KD 48.0 million ($167.6 million). EBITDA was KD 25.8 million ($90.1 million), first half 2008 EBITDA was at 25.4 million ($88.4 million). The net attributable profit to Wataniya Telecom increased in first half of 2009 to KD 10.7 million ($37.3 million) compared with KD 9.6million ($33.5 million) for the same period last year. Wataniya Telecom accounts for Tunisiana on the 50 percent proportionate consolidation method.
• Algeria: Nedjma customer base increased to 5.78 million customers, an increase of 15.9 percent from Q2 2008. Revenues for first half of 2009 were KD 69.4 million ($242.3 million), and revenues were at KD 61.2 million ($213.7 million) in first half of 2008. EBITDA was KD 22.0 million ($76.7 million) increase of 23.8 percent compared with KD 17.7 million ($61.9 million) in first half of 2008. The total net loss for first half 2009 was KD 7.13 million ($24.9 million) compared with KD 0.09 million ($0.3 million) in first half of 2008. The net attributable loss to Wataniya Telecom was KD 5.1 million ($17.6 million) compared with the loss of KD 0.07 million ($0.23 million) for first half 2008.
• Saudi Arabia: Bravo customers reached 0.17 million at the end of Q2 2009, an increase of 35.9 percent from Q2 2008. Revenues increased to KD 9.5 million ($33.0 million) for the first half of 2009 compared to KD 6.1 million ($21.4 million) for first half 2008. The total net loss for the first half 2009 was KD 5.3 million ($18.5 million) compared with KD 6.7 million ($23.6 million) in first half 2008. The net attributable loss to Wataniya Telecom is KD 3.0 million ($10.3 million) for the first half of 2009. This is an improvement of 22 percent compared with the loss in the first half 2008 of KD 3.8 million ($13.2 million).
• Maldives: Total customers at the end of Q2 2009 were 0.11 million, an increase of 31 percent from Q2 2008. Revenues were KD 3.8 million ($13.4 million) for the first half compared with KD 2.4 million ($8.2 million) for first half of 2008. EBITDA was KD 0.11 million ($0.40 million) compared with the negative EBITDA of 0.10 million ($0.35 million) in first half of 2008. The net loss for the first half is KD 1.8 million ($6.1 million) compared with the loss of KD 1.9 million ($6.6 million) for first half of 2008.