Revenue and Customer Growth Continued

17-02-2013
Kuwait City, Kuwait,

Wataniya Telecom (National Mobile Telecommunications Company K.S.C. – Ticker: NMTC) today announced its financial results for the year 2012:

Financial Highlights:

*Note:In 2011 a fair value gain (non-cash) of KD 265.3 million (USD 943.5 million) was recorded due to a revaluation of the existing interest in Tunisiana following the increase in the shareholding from 50% to 75%.

Operational Highlights:

Total customer base increased to 19.2 million at the close of 2012, versus 17.8 million at the same period in 2011, amounting to growth of 7.8%.

Revenues for the year 2012 amounted to KD 742.5 million (USD 2.64 billion), compared with KD 726.6 million (USD 2.58 billion) for the same period in 2011, amounting to growth of 2.2%.

EBITDA for the year 2012 was KD 299.4 million (USD 1.06 billion), compared to EBITDA of KD 314.2 million (USD 1.12 billion) for the same period in 2011.

The consolidated Net Profit was at KD 75.5 million (USD 268.5 million), compared to Net Profit for the same period in 2011 of KD 362.1 million (USD 1.29 billion). Net Profit for the year 2011 includes a fair value gain of KD 265.3 million (USD 943.5 million) 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 KD 96.8 million (USD 344.2 million).

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 (USD 54 cents), compared to 723 fils (USD 2.6) per share earned for the same period last year. Excluding revaluation gain the Earnings per Share in 2011 was 193 fils (USD 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 of network 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 after a Board of Directors meeting 14 February 2013, the Board recommended a cash dividend of 125% of the nominal value of shares, which amounts to one hundred and twenty-five fils per share. This recommendation is subject to the approval of the shareholders and the relevant 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 KD 220.8 million (USD 785.3 million), decrease of 9.4% compared to revenues for the same period in 2011 of KD 243.6 million (USD 866.4 million). EBITDA for the year 2012 was KD 84.4 million (USD 300.2 million) compared to EBITDA for the same period in 2011 of KD 111.1 million (USD 394.9 million), a decrease by 24.0%. Net Profit was at KD 46.4 million (USD 164.9 million), compared to Net Profit for the same period in 2011 of KD 328.1 million (USD 1.2 billion).

Net Profit for the year 2011 includes a fair value gain of KD 265.3 million (USD 943.5 million) 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 KD 62.8 million (USD 223.2 million).

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 KD 201.9 million (USD 718.1 million), compared to revenues for the same period in 2011 of KD 210.0 million (USD 746.7 million). EBITDA for the year 2012 was KD 108.0 million (USD 384.2 million) from KD 118.8 million (USD 422.5 million) for the same period last year representing a decrease of 9.1%.
The total Net Profit stood at KD     46.7 million (USD 166.2 million) a decrease of 11.4% when compared with KD 52.7 million (USD 187.6 million) for the same period in 2011. The Net Attributable Profit to Wataniya Telecom for the year 2012 was KD 35.2 million (USD 125.1 million), compared to KD 39.6 million (USD 140.7 million) 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 KD 266.9 million (USD 949.1 million), an increase of 19.3% compared with revenues of KD 223.7 million (USD 795.6 million) for the same period in 2011. EBITDA for the year 2012 was KD 105.4 million (USD 374.7 million), an increase of 26.7% on KD 83.2 million (USD 295.8 million) for the same period in 2011.

The total Net Profit for the year 2012 was KD 27.6 million (USD 98.1 million) compared to a total Net Profit of KD 14.4 million (USD 51.4 million) for the same period in 2011. The Net Attributable Profit to Wataniya Telecom for 2012 was KD 19.6 million (USD 69.6 million) compared to a  Net Attributable Profit of KD 10.3 million (USD 36.5 million) 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 KD 23.5 million (USD 83.6 million), an increase of 13.9% compared to the revenues of KD 20.6 million (USD 73.4 million) in the year 2011. EBITDA for 2012 was KD 1.7 million (USD 6.2 million) in the year 2012, compared to an EBITDA of KD 1.0 million (USD 3.7 million) for the same period in 2011.

The total Net Loss for the year 2012 was KD 6.7 million (USD 23.7 million) compared to a total Net Loss of KD 7.2 million (USD 25.6 million) for the same period in 2011. The Net Attributable Loss for the year 2012 was KD 3.2 million (USD 11.5 million) compared to a Net Attributable Loss of KD 3.5 million (USD 12.4 million) for the same period in 2011

Bravo - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Bravo’s customer base was 0.16 million at the end of 2012, 5.2% increase from the same period of 2011. Revenues for the year 2012 decreased to KD 18.2 million (USD 64.6 million) from KD 19.3 million (USD 68.6 million) for the same period in 2011.The total Net Profit for the year 2012 was KD 0.6 million (USD 2.1 million) compared to the total Net Loss of KD 10.7 million (USD 38.2 million) for the same period in 2011. The Net Attributable Profit to Wataniya Telecom for 2012 was KD 1.3 million (USD 4.6 million), compared to a Net Attributable Loss of KD 6.0 million (USD 21.3 million) for the same period in 2011.

Wataniya - Maldives

The total customer base at end of 2012 was 0.18 million, an increase of 22.5% from the same period of 2011. Revenues were KD 11.2 million (USD 39.8 million) for the year 2012 compared to KD 9.4 million (USD 33.4 million) for the same period 2011. EBITDA for the year 2012 was KD 2.6 million (USD 9.2 million) compared to an EBITDA of KD 1.6 million (USD 5.8 million) for the same period in 2011. The Net Attributable Loss for 2012 was KD 2.2 million (USD 7.9 million) compared to the Net Attributable Loss of KD 2.7 million (USD 9.7 million) for the same period in 2011.

The KD to USD conversion rate used is 0.28120 as of 31st December 2012.

For more information please visit www.wataniyatelecom.com