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Operational Highlights:
• Total customer base increased to 19.2m at the close of 2012, versus 17.8m at the same period in 2011, amounting to growth of 7.8%.• Revenues for the year 2012 amounted to KD742.5m ($2.64bn), compared with KD726.6m ($2.58bn) for the same period in 2011, amounting to growth of 2.2%.
• EBITDA for the year 2012 was KD299.4m ($1.06bn), compared to EBITDA of KD314.2m ($1.12bn) for the same period in 2011.
• The consolidated Net Profit was at KD75.5m ($268.5m), compared to Net Profit for the same period in 2011 of KD362.1m ($1.29bn). Net Profit for the year 2011 includes a fair value gain of KD265.3m ($943.5m) recorded due to revaluation of existing held interest in Tunisiana following the increase in the shareholding from 50% to 75%. The Net Profit for the year 2011 without the fair value gain was KD96.8m ($344.2m).
• Net Profit for 2012 was adversely impacted by various factors including competitive pressure in Kuwait, foreign exchange movements in Algeria and Tunisia and an impairment charge for a Build-Operate-Transfer ("BOT") operation in 2012.
• The consolidated Earnings per Share was 151 fils ($54 cents), compared to 723fils ($2.6) per share earned for the same period last year. Excluding revaluation gain the Earnings per Share in 2011 was 193 fils ($69 cents) a decrease in 2012 by 21.8% compared with 2011.
H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al Thani, Chairman of Wataniya Telecom commented, "From a strategic standpoint, 2012 has been a successful year as we position ourselves for the future. Wataniya Telecom increased our stake in Tunisiana from 50% to 75% and we have seen continued efforts ofnetwork modernization across our markets with LTE planned for Kuwait and 3G and fixed services roll-out in Tunisia." He added: "While operationally during this period, Wataniya Telecom has seen stable revenue growth of 2.2%, foreign exchange impacts again impacted profitability and competitive dynamics in Kuwait remain challenging. I look forward to 2013 as efforts already underway in our markets will begin to drive positive and sustainable results for Wataniya Telecom."
Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani also declared that that after a board meeting last Thursday, 14 Feb, the Board recommended a cash dividend increase of 125% of the nominal value of shares, of which one hundred and twenty-five fils (125%) per share for one, putting into consideration that this recommendation is subject to the approval of the shareholders and the competent authorities.
Review of Operations
The Group's operational performance can be summarized as follows:
Wataniya - Kuwait
Wataniya Kuwait's customer base increased to 2.03 million customers at the end of 2012, an increase of 3.8% on the same period 2011. Revenues for the year 2012 were KD220.8m ($785.3m), decrease of 9.4% compared to revenues for the same period in 2011 of KD243.6m ($866.4m). EBITDA for the year 2012 was KD84.4m ($300.2m) compared to EBITDA for the same period in 2011 of KD111.1m ($394.9m), a decrease by 24.0%. Net Profit was at KD46.4m ($164.9m), compared to Net Profit for the same period in 2011 of KD328.1m ($1.2bn).Net Profit for the year 2011 includes a fair value gain of KD265.3m ($943.5m) recorded due to revaluation of existing 50% held interest in Tunisiana following the increase in the shareholding from 50% to 75%.
The Net Profit for 2011 without the fair value gain, and after amortization of intangibles arising from the Tunisiana acquisition was KD62.8.m ($223.2m).
Tunisiana - Tunisia
The Tunisiana customer base at the end of 2012 stood at 7.19 million customers, an increase of 8.6% on the same period in 2011. Revenues for the year 2012 were KD201.9m ($718.1m), compared to revenues for the same period in 2011 of KD210.0m ($746.7m). EBITDA for the year 2012 was KD108.0m ($384.2m) from KD118.8m ($422.5m) for the same period last year representing a decrease of 9.1%.The total Net Profit stood at KD46.7m ($166.2m) a decrease of 11.4% when compared with KD52.7m ($187.6m) for the same period in 2011. The Net Attributable Profit to Wataniya Telecom for the year 2012 was KD35.2m ($125.1m), compared to KD39.6m ($140.7m) for the same period in 2011. Foreign exchange movement in 2012 had an adverse impact on Tunisiana's performance with the TND/USD rate 11.1% unfavourable compared to 2011.
Nedjma-Algeria
The Nedjma customer base at the end of 2012 was 9.06 million customers, an increase of 6.5% compared to the same period last year. Revenues for the year 2012 were KD266.9m ($949.1m), an increase of 19.3% compared with revenues of KD223.7m ($795.6m) for the same period in 2011. EBITDA for the year 2012 was KD105.4m ($374.7m), an increase of 26.7% on KD83.2m ($295.8m) for the same period in 2011.The total Net Profit for the year 2012 was KD27.6m ($98.1m) compared to a total Net Profit of KD14.4m ($51.4m) for the same period in 2011. The Net Attributable Profit to Wataniya Telecom for 2012 was KD19.6m ($69.6m) compared to a Net Attributable Profit of KD10.3m ($36.5m) for the same period in 2011. Foreign exchange movements in 2012 impacted Nedjma's performance with the DZD/USD rate 6.5% unfavorable compared to 2011.
Wataniya - Palestine
The total customer base at end of 2012 was 0.61 million, an increase of 31.2% from the same period of 2011. Revenues for the year 2012 were KD23.5m ($83.6m), an increase of 13.9% compared to the revenues of KD20.6m ($73.4m) in the year 2011. EBITDA for 2012 was KD1.7m ($6.2m) in the year 2012, compared to an EBITDA of KD1.0m ($3.7m) for the same period in 2011.The total Net Loss for the year 2012 was KD6.7m ($23.7m) compared to a total Net Loss of KD7.2m ($25.6m) for the same period in 2011. The Net Attributable Loss for the year 2012 was KD3.2m ($11.5m) compared to a Net Attributable Loss of KD3.5m ($12.4m) for the same period in 2011.
Posted by Rana Mesbah
