Omantel Q4 net profit up 10 percent as subscriber base grows

Omantel Q4 net profit up 10 percent as subscriber base grows

Oman Telecommunications Co (Omantel) on Tueday reported a 10.3 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit, beating forecasts as the majority state-owned operator's subscriber base grew.

February 8, 2012 12:26 by Reuters

The former monopoly made a net profit of 30.1 million rials ($78.2 million) in the quarter, compared with a profit of 27.3 million rials in the same period a year ago, it said in an emailed statement.

Two analysts polled by Reuters forecast the firm would post a quarterly profit of between 26.6 million and 30 million rials.

Omantel’s total subscribers rose 6 percent to 3.53 million in 2011, including those from Pakistan subsidiary Worldcall Telecommunications.

Domestic mobile subscribers, including those from mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) hosted on Omantel’s network, totalled 2.8 million at the end of 2011, giving it a market share of 58 percent, it said.

The firm’s 2011 net profit was 112.9 million rials, up 2.3 percent from 2010.

Omantel, in which the Omani government owns 70 percent, said quarterly revenue was 119.5 million rials, up from 100.8 million rials a year earlier.

Full year revenue for 2011 was 452.6 million rials, up from 416.6 million in 2010.

In December, Omantel and rival operator Nawras said they were in talks with the local regulator to be assigned coveted lower-frequency spectrum to aid surging demand for mobile data. ($1 = 0.3850 Omani rials) (Reporting by Matt Smith; Editing by Firouz Sedarat)