Qtel posts 15 per cent first-quarter net profits growth

Apr 30, 2007, 11:03 GMT

Manama, Bahrain - Qatar Telecom QSC (Qtel) said Monday that the company achieved 483 million Qatari rials (138 million dollars) in net profits in the first three months of 2007, up 15 per cent from the same period last year.

The results came on revenues of over 1.45 billion rials, also up 53 per cent from the first-quarter 2006 figures.

Profits achieved before paying royalties and fees amoutned to 699 million rials in the first quarter, up 28 per cent, Qtel said.

'We have had a great start to this year with excellent financial results and I am pleased to report that the Groups performance, for the three months ended 31st March 2007, has shown continued growth in revenue, EBITDA and net profit,' Qtel chairman Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani said.

He said that the company's revenues inside Qatar had reached almost 1.06 billion rials, up 22 per cent from a year earlier.

Wireless services showed a 35 per cent increase in customers, reaching 1,023,779 while achieving revenues of 727 million rials, up from 578 million rials in the same period last year, he said.

Al Thani added that Nawras in Oman, which has more than doubled its customer base to 670,000 in only its second year of operation, contributed 170 million rials in revenues, a 91 per cent increase over the same period last year.