By Pratap John/Chief Business Reporter

Daly (centre) with Walters and Vodafone Qatar investor relations manager Khalid Barzak during the announcement of the company’s financial results

Vodafone Qatar posted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of QR102mn in nine months up to December compared to a loss of QR31mn for the corresponding period in 2010.
Vodafone had 797,000 mobile customers in December, 2011, up 12% year-on-year. Customer numbers reflect an adjustment of 46,000 to remove pre-activated SIM cards from the base following a technical systems upgrade.
Vodafone signed up some 15,000 new customers in the last quarter.
The company earned total revenue of QR906mn for nine months up to December 2011, a 39% increase compared to the same period last year.
The monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) in the mobile segment for the nine-month period was QR111.
Vodafone Qatar chairman Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Saud al-Thani said: “Vodafone is reporting improved Ebitda profitability of QR102mn for the nine-month period compared to a loss of QR31mn for the same period last year.
“Vodafone Qatar has continued to deliver improved financial results to shareholders by growing its mobile customer base.
“Growth in mobile customers has led to improved revenue and, in turn profitability at the Ebitdalevel. Vodafone Qatar is benefiting from noticeable improvements in the quality of its voice and data network this quarter”.
Vodafone Qatar CEO Richard Daly said: “The dedicated efforts of the management team have resulted in another set of solid financial results for Vodafone Qatar.
“Over the last three months, I have seen the company making good progress towards the short-term objectives I highlighted last quarter whilst delivering improved financial results to our shareholders.
“We are delighted with the improvements in the coverage and quality of our mobile voice and data network which were confirmed in the annual independent drive tests in November. The roaming experience enjoyed by our customers has also seen significant improvements this quarter.”
Vodafone Qatar chief financial officer Steve Walters said the company made a 21% improvement in net loss year-on-year; the loss for the period being QR359.4mn compared with QR456.8mn in the same period in 2010.
Daly said, “We said in the IPO that we will not pay dividend before 2013. Vodafone is hopeful that it will be able to pay dividend to shareholders after 2013.”
Heavy investment envisaged
Vodafone will continue to invest heavily in improving its communication infrastructure in Qatar and ensuring network stability and higher data speeds, the company’s Qatar CEO Richard Daly said. “We will have 50 additional cell cites by March.”
Currently, Vodafone has some 497 outdoor and 123 indoor cell sites in Qatar. The service provider has already achieved 100% 2G and 99% 3G population coverage in Qatar. “With this, our first phase development is over,” Daly said.
Over the next quarter, he said, Vodafone will build upon this with specific focus on improving indoor coverage and further increasing data download speeds. At the same time preparations for the launch of traditional post-pay services will continue.
“Achieving success in these areas and our launch of fixed services in partnership with the Qatar National Broadband Network, are central to our plans to grow our profitability well into future,” Daly said.
He said Vodafone achieved “significant improvements in the coverage and quality” of its mobile voice and data network, which were confirmed in the annual independent drive tests in November.
An “independent test” by a firm named P3 Communications revealed a “call set up success rate” of 98.9%, dropped call rate of 0.2% and data download speed of 2.38mbps.
The firm covered 4,500km in Qatar and made 3,040 calls as part of its independent test.
“Although these may not be the best rates in the world, they are definitely good, highlighting significant improvements in our coverage and quality,” Daly said.
He said Vodafone is seeing “significant growth” in mobile data usage in Qatar with consumption doubling in just five months. More than 50% of Vodafone customers access the Internet on their mobile every month. More than 250,000 customers use Facebook on their mobile handsets every week.
“The Vodafone network has sufficient capacity and offers excellent download speeds,” Daly said.
On fixed line services, he said Vodafone’s core network fixed / mobile convergence has been completed.
This week Vodafone has completed the fibre connection between its two data centres at Meeza and QDC. The next step, he said, is to connect Vodafone’s International Landing Station (ILS) and provide international capacity in partnership with GBI.
Vodafone’s “fibre ring backbone” will be completed by summer.
Vodafone now offers fixed line services at The Pearl and this will be followed by Barwa City and West Bay Commercial & Business District this year.  “The project is on track and within our licence obligations,” Daly said.

 

News.Yahoo.com

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