Vodafone Qatar, an affiliate of Britain's Vodafone Group, has reported a smaller-than-expected fourth-quarter loss as its subscriber base rose by nearly a third and revenue increased.
Vodafone, which ended Ooredoo's (Qatar Telecom) domestic monopoly in 2009, made a fourth-quarter net loss of QR73.9m in the three months to March 31, according to Reuters calculations.
That compares with a loss of QR126.5m in the year-earlier period. The operator's financial year starts on April 1.
Two analysts polled by Reuters forecast Vodafone Qatar would make a quarterly loss of between QR80-91m.
Vodafone Qatar's full-year net loss was QR401m, smaller than the previous year's loss of QR486m.
Quarterly revenue was QR435.6m, up from QR315.7m a year ago, while annual revenue rose 25 percent to QR1.53bn.
This gave the company a 27.4 percent share of Qatar's mobile revenues, up from 24.5 percent a year earlier.
Vodafone, which owns 23 percent of Vodafone Qatar, in November extended a contract to manage its Qatari affiliate until 2018.
Vodafone had 1.08 million mobile customers as of March 31, up from 837,000 a year earlier.
Full-year average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metric for the telecom sector, was 121 riyals, up 8 percent year-on-year.
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/vodafone-qatar-narrows-quarterly-losses-504015.html
Follow us on our social media channels:
@ILQlive
@ILQlive
@ILoveQtr
ILoveQatar
