We achieved great success in digital transformation strategy across Ooredoo Group: Al-Thani

KUWAIT: National Mobile Telecommunications Company K.S.C.P "Ooredoo" presented its achievements and financial results for 2018 during its annual general meeting, which was held at the company's headquarters in Kuwait City last Thursday. The meeting was attended by the company's Chairman, Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al-Thani, General Manager and CEO, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al-Thani and board members Abdullah Ahmed Al-Zaman, Yousuf Al-Sumait, Bader Al-Humaidi, Fahad Al-Saeed, Fatima Al-Kuwari, and Sheikh Falih Ali Al-Thani. The Annual General Assembly saw an attendance of 92.803 percent of the shareholders. The Chairman of the Board of Directors declared that the Board agreed to distribute cash dividends to the Company Shareholders valued at 50 percent of the nominal value of share, which is equivalent to 50 fils per share.

Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al-Thani commented that Ooredoo's customer base in Kuwait increased to 2.3 million in 2018, up by 4 percent compared to 2017. Revenues for 2018 were KD 240.9 million, an increase of 8 percent compared to KD 222.7 million in 2017. Higher handset sales led to an increase in revenue, while at the same time negatively impacting margins. EBITDA was KD 55.0 million for 2018, compared to KD 54.3 million for the previous year.

The B2B in Kuwait was enhanced by a partnership with SAP to provide best in class enterprise cloud services and by leveraging Ooredoo's state-of-the-art data centers to provide end-to-end IT solutions to strategic enterprise clients.

Ooredoo's Operations in 2018

Ooredoo - Tunisia

Ooredoo's customer base in Tunisia increased 8 percent to reach 9.1 million customers in 2018, compared to the previous year. Growth was supported by digital offerings such as Tedallel,' an in-app multi-platform offering providing users with the flexibility to choose between voice, data or value-added services such as music, video and gaming.

The Tunisian dinar depreciated by 9.8 percent year on year, leading to a decrease in revenues from KD 127.5 million in 2017 to KD 126.6 million in 2018. In local currency terms, revenues were up by 9.0 percent. EBITDA was KD 49.3 million in 2018 compared to KD 50.5 million in 2017.

Ooredoo - Algeria

Ooredoo Algeria added 1400 4G sites to its LTE network creating the first 4G network to serve 48 wilayas covering 48 percent of the country's population. Data traffic increased 117 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year.

Business in Algeria was negatively impacted by the devaluation of the Algerian dinar, intense price completion and a weak economic environment. Customer base declined by 3 percent to 13.9 million in 2018, compared to 2017. Revenues also decreased to KD 228.9 million in 2018, compared to KD 285.1 million in the previous year. EBITDA was KD 85.3 million in 2018, down from KD 125.5 million in 2017. Algerian dinar depreciated by 5.5 percent year on year.

Ooredoo - Palestine

Ooredoo Palestine made good progress in 2018, with the launch of the 3G network in the West Bank in January 2018 Customer numbers increased by 27 percent to 1.3 million, benefiting from the Gaza launch in October 2017. Revenue increased to KD 30.3 million, up by 17 percent compared to KD 26.0 million in 2017. EBITDA was strong, increasing to KD 8.0 million in 2018 compared to KD 5.7 million in 2017.

Ooredoo - Maldives

Ooredoo Maldives reported a 5 percent increase in revenues to KD 38.2 million in 2018, compared to KD 36.3 million in 2017. EBITDA was stable at KD 19.7 million in 2018. Ooredoo Maldives now serves a total of 440k customers. Ooredoo Maldives entered the content space with the launch of Amazon Prime Video and OpenMiTV, an application allowing television to be viewed anywhere.