Ooredoo Q.S.C. Ooredoo Delivers Net Profit of QAR 2.1 billion in 9M 2014

Total customer base increases by 7% to 95.7 million

Doha, Qatar, 27 October 2014: Ooredoo Q.S.C. (“Ooredoo”) - Ticker: ORDS.QA today announced results for the nine months ended 30 September 2014.

Financial Highlights:

• Earnings per share in 9M 2014 stood at QAR 6.49  (9M 2013: 6.46 QAR)

Overview:

• 9M 2014 Group revenue down3% to QAR 24,839 million: positive performances in Qatar, Oman and Algeria; challenging market environments in Indonesia, Kuwait, Iraq and Tunisia. Excluding the impact of Indonesian Foreign Exchange, Group revenue would have increased by 1%
• EBITDA of QAR 10,234million and EBITDA margin of 41% supported by group-wide cost management and increasing infrastructure sharing initiatives. Excluding the impact of Indonesian Foreign Exchange and Myanmar start-up costs, EBITDA would have decreased by 3% compared to the reported 9% reduction

• Net profit to Ooredoo shareholders for 9M 2014 stood at QAR 2.1 billion. Excluding the impact of Foreign Currency gains and losses in Opcos and Myanmar start-up costs and IM2 provision, Net Profit to Ooredoo would have grown by 3% 

• Number of customers increased by 7% to reach 95.7 million

• Launch of 3G network in Myanmar in mid-August attracted more than 1 million customers in less than three weeks following launch

• With regards to the IM2 court case in Indonesia, which is stilla pending legal process where no formal notification has been received, Indosat has taken a prudent provision of QAR 416 million¹

• “Nawras” to re-brand to “Ooredoo” in October: the seventh operation to use the Ooredoo brand

As at 30 September 2014, the Group’s consolidated customer base stood at 95.7million (9M 2013: 89.6million), representing year-on-year growth of 7%. Group revenue for the nine months 2014decreased to QAR24,839million (9M 2013: QAR 25,477million).  Group EBITDA decreasedby 9% to QAR 10,234million (9M 2013: QAR 11,225million) with EBITDA margin decreasing to 41%(9M 2013:44%) due to lower revenues and the continued investment across the business into customer acquisition and retention, global brand roll-out, service launches and customer experience. The Group continues to invest in its start-up operation in Myanmar, its recovery strategy in Ooredoo Kuwait and has been impacted during the period by the current security situation in Iraq.

Net profit attributable to Ooredoo shareholders for the nine months 2014 was QAR 2,079million (9M 2013: QAR 2,069million).  On a quarterly basis, Ooredoo Group delivered an 11% increase in net profit attributable to Ooredoo shareholders to QAR 375 million compared to the third quarter of 2013.

Commenting on the results, His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo said:

“Ooredoo has delivered a solid set of results despite the challenges facing some of its markets.  The increasing use of data by our customers and Ooredoo’s move into new service capabilities such as financial transactions demonstrate the enormous power of our best-in-class data networks.  They offer transformative means of communication to individuals, communities and businesses across our markets and illustrate how Ooredoo is progressing its strategy.  Our networks and services continue to bring positive change across our markets.”

Also commenting on the results Dr. Nasser Marafih, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo said:

“Our results for the nine months demonstrate the clear progress of our strategy to create a world-leading, data centric business.  We are increasingly building a growing level of revenue from dataas our customers consume more data based services from their fixed and mobile communication devices. Strong results were achieved in our domestic market in Qatar, in Oman where the “turbocharging” of the network is delivering strongnumbers and in Algeria, where we benefit from the most advanced 3G network. Despite the progress of our strategy, some of our markets continue to experience a range of challenges e.g. in Indonesia, Iraq, Tunisia and the Kuwaiti market.  However, we will continue to make the appropriate investments into our core areas of growth to ensure long-term shareholder value.   Our investment in our networks, services and branding will ensure that Ooredoo will continue to differentiate and deliver value for shareholders and customers alike.”