Muscat : Oman Telecommunications Company “Omantel”, (MSM: OTEL), the Sultanate’s telecoms giant and one of the top listed companies on the Muscat Securities Market, today announced its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2010, achieving a net profit of R.O 83 million (Earning Per Share of R.O 0.112) and an increase of revenue of 3.9 per cent for the corresponding period of 2009.
The group’s total revenue saw a growth of 3.9% compared to the corresponding period of 2009 reaching R.O 316 million, the majority of which can be attributed to the increase in the domestic retail revenue of 2%. The group expenses reached R.O 224 million, compared to a figure of R.O. 190 million for the corresponding period of last year, due to the aggressive expansion of 3.5G network and the depreciation resulting from introducing new technologies on the network.
The decline in net profit from a figure of R.O 105.8 million for the corresponding period of 2009 is attributable to an increase in expenses driven by a massive investment in expanding the network to enhance customer experience and expand the network reach such as 3.5G network roll-out, transforming the network into an IP Core intelligent network and the deployment of other new technologies. Furthermore, the net profit for the corresponding period of 2009 includes certain one off items relating to an amount of RO 3.64 million towards the settlement of insurance claim and a reversal of bad debts amounting to RO 2.8 million. Therefore, excluding these one-off items, the normalized net profit for the first nine months of 2009 was R.O 100 million.
The company’s investments to enhance customer experience and introduce world-renowned innovative products have resulted in a significant growth of the group’s subscriber base reaching 3.303 million as of September 2010 – a growth of 10.3% on the previous year. The subscriber base includes Worldcall subscribers, which has grown by 7.6% reaching 852 K.
Oman Mobile has been the fastest growing operator in the mobile segment this year. Overall mobile subscriber base in Oman has grown by 20% compared to Q3’09, of which Oman Mobile has been successful in achieving 66% of net new subscribers. This has led to an increase in Oman Mobile’s operating profit by 9% and net profit by more than 7% compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Omantel said that group financials for the period ended September 30, 2010 are not comparable to the previous year since it includes full 9 months operations of Worldcall Telecommunications Ltd, Pakistan (WTL), Omantel’s subsidiary in Pakistan, whereas the corresponding period of Year 2009 includes only 3 months operational results, since it was accounted as a subsidiary from July 1st, 2009 in addition to the one-off insurance settlement.