Earnings per share of 50 fils

Kuwait City, 21^st July 2024: National Mobile Telecommunications Company K.S.C.P “Ooredoo” (Ticker: OOREDOO) announced today its financial results for the half year ended 30 June 2024:

 Financial Highlights:

• Consolidated revenue increased by 9% to KWD 346 million in H1 2024, compared to KWD 318 million in H1 2023. Revenue growth was supported by the strong operational performance in Kuwait, Maldives, Tunisia and Algeria.
• Consolidated customer base increased by 4% to 25.5 million in H1 2024 compared to 24.6 million in H1 2023.
• EBITDA increased by 8% in H1 2024 to reach KWD 125 million compared to KWD 116 million in H1 2023.
• Net profit attributable to NMTC decreased to KWD 25 million in H1 2024 from KWD 64 million in H1 2023. In Q1 2023, the Company booked a KWD 43.8 million gain related to the regulatory tariff court case won against Kuwait’s Ministry of Communication “MOC” and Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority “CITRA”. Excluding that gain, Net Profit to NMTC would be higher by 23% in H1 2024 compared to H1 2023.
• The consolidated earnings per share were 50 fils for H1 2024, compared to 128 fils earned in H1 2023. The decline is primarily attributable to the aforementioned impact related to the regulatory tariff court case.

Sheikh Mohammad Bin Abdullah Al Thani, Chairman of the Board of Directors commented:

“I am very pleased to report that NMTC continued to perform strongly in the second quarter. This is the result of key investments and strategic initiatives implemented over the past few years.

NMTC’s commercial performance remained strong. Our customer base grew by 4% to 25.5 million. The investments into our network and systems helped us improve customer satisfaction.

For this quarter, revenue grew by 8% compared to the same quarter in 2023 to reach KWD 177 million, thanks to the strong performance from our operations in Kuwait, Maldives, Tunisia and Algeria.

We continued to drive profitability in the quarter. EBITDA improved by 8%, in line with the pace of previous quarters, to KWD 66 million and Net profit attributable to NMTC increased by 18% compared to the same quarter in 2023 to reach KWD 13 million.

I am confident in our ability to consistently execute our strategy. NMTC is well-positioned for sustained, profitable growth in the years ahead.”

Review of Operations

The Group’s operational performance can be summarised as follows:

Ooredoo – Kuwait

Ooredoo Kuwait’s customer base increased to 2.9 million in H1 2024, up by 2% compared to H1 2023. Ooredoo Kuwait reported an 8% increase in Revenue to KWD 133 million in H1 2024 compared to KWD 123 million in H1 2023. EBITDA decreased by 10% to KWD 34 million in H1 2024 compared to KWD 38 million in H1 2023. This decrease is due to a one-off bad debt provision raised in line with standard Company policy. Normalizing for the aforementioned one-off bad debt provision, EBITDA increased by 3%.

Commenting on the results, Abdulaziz Al-Babtain, Chief executive officer of Ooredoo Kuwait, said:

“These strong results validate our strategy, which prioritizes operational excellence and exceptional customer service. We remain on track to achieve our strategic targets for 2024.

We are incredibly proud of every member of our team, both in the office and in the branches. Their dedication has significantly contributed to our positive performance. At Ooredoo Kuwait, we recognize the importance of nationalization and youth empowerment in driving sustainable growth. We prioritize our people and eagerly seize every opportunity to empower local talent, providing a platform for youth to express themselves, innovate, and upgrade.”

He, then added: “We have upgraded our services with advanced technology and AI, always keeping our customers at the centre of everything we do. Our digital transformation strategy has been pivotal in driving our success, In the coming period, we will continue to explore the available strategic options that enable us to provide innovative services and projects, which will strengthen our position as a leading company in the sector. We are making significant progress in executing our strategy and are well on track to achieve our targets. We continue to strengthen our position as a leading telecommunications company, striving to deliver competitive services to our customers and exceptional value to our stakeholders.”

Expressing appreciation Al-Babtain emphasized: 'At Ooredoo Kuwait, we are following a well-established and steadfast strategy centred around five fundamental pillars: delivering the best customer experience, empowering our people and nurturing local talent, driving innovation in everything we do, continuously evolving and fortifying our core operations, and placing our customers at the heart of everything we do. We continue to advance on all these strategic programs, diligently working to create sustainable value for our customers, stakeholders, and the communities we serve.

As the journey continues, we look forward to upgrading the world of our customers. Our mission to upgrade the lives of our customers remains at the forefront of everything we do.” He concluded.

Ooredoo - Tunisia

The customer base in Ooredoo Tunisia stood at 6.9 million customers in H1 2024. Revenue increased by 4% to KWD 62 million in H1 2024 compared to KWD 59 million in H1 2023. EBITDA increased by 21% to reach KWD 25 million in H1 2024 compared to KWD 21 million in H1 2023.

Ooredoo – Algeria

Ooredoo Algeria’s customer base increased by 5% compared to H1 2023 to reach 13.7 million in H1 2024. Revenue increased by 15% to KWD 114 million in H1 2024 compared to KWD 99 million in H1 2023. EBITDA increased by 22% to reach KWD 47 million in H1 2024 compared to KWD 39 million in H1 2023.

Ooredoo – Palestine

Customer base in Palestine increased by 9% to 1.5 million customers in H1 2024. Revenue decreased slightly by 2% to KWD 17 million in H1 2024. EBITDA decreased by 6% to KWD 7 million in H1 2024. The performance of Ooredoo Palestine continued to be adversely affected by the severe damage to the network in Gaza.

Ooredoo - Maldives

The customer base in Maldives increased to 402k in H1 2024. Ooredoo Maldives reported an 8% increase in Revenue to KWD 22 million in H1 2024, compared to KWD 20 million in H1 2023. EBITDA increased by 4% to reach KWD 12 million in H1 2024 compared to KWD 11 million in H1 2023.