Doha, Qatar–Ooredoo reported a 28 percent increase in net profit to $741 million in the first nine months of 2023, compared to $576 million in the same period of last year.
Revenue for the first nine months of 2023 grew by 2% to $4.72 billion compared to $4.64 billion in the same period of the previous year.
Solid growth in Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait and Maldives were partially offset by a decline in revenue in Qatar, Oman and Tunisia as well as foreign exchange depreciation in Myanmar and Palestine.
Post quarter end, there has been severe damage to the infrastructure in Gaza, negatively impacting the Palestine operation. Palestine contributes approximately 2% to group revenue and on a consolidated basis, the impact is not material.
Group CAPEX spend came in at QR1.6bn in the first nine months of 2023, representing a 2% increase compared to the same period last year. The Group made strategic investments in Oman, Iraq, Tunisia and Maldives to drive growth in these markets. The CAPEX spend is expected to increase in the last quarter of the year in line with the historic quarterly trend.
Ooredoo Group retained its robust investment grade rating in the first 9 months of 2023. Leverage a Net Debt/EBITDA ratio of 0.9x, remains well below the board’s guidance range of 1.5x to 2.5x. Furthermore, the Group’s financial position remains secure from interest rate risks as approximately 97% of the debt is structured on a fixed rate basis.
The Group’s consolidated customer base reached 56.7m, a 2 percent growth compared to 55.5m in the same period last year. This performance was driven by solid growth across most of the operations. Including IOH, the customer base grew 1% to 156.1 million.
