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Muscat: Oman Telecommunications Company, the Sultanate's biggest telecommunication firm, said its net profit rose by 4.1 per cent to OMR116.2 million for 2012, from OMR111.6 million for the previous year, despite challenging market conditions.
Omantel board of directors recommended to the annual general meeting a dividend distribution of 75 per cent of the nominal value of the share. As Omantel has already paid interim dividend of 40 per cent in August, the total dividend distribution for 2012 will be 115 per cent, the company said in a statement released after its board meeting here yesterday.
Omantel board will recommend also to the company's annual general meeting distributing an interim dividend of 40 per cent of the nominal value of the share to be paid in August, 2013.
The company's revenue grew by 1.4 per cent to OMR458.9 million from OMR452.6 million during the period.
Despite the challenging market conditions and decline in revenue from international calls and SMS, Omantel said that last year was a successful year that saw an increase in the number of total subscribers reaching 3.831 million – an increase of 8.5 per cent, which includes subscribers of its subsidiary company Worldcall Telecommunications Limited.
Omantel Mobile — the company's mobile business arm — continued to see a remarkable growth of 12.1 per cent with number of customers reaching 2.553 million making Omantel Mobile again the fastest growing mobile operator in the Sultanate for the third consecutive year. Including resellers, Omantel Mobile network customers, increased by 8.5 per cent to a total 3.06 million at the end of December 2012.
The total domestic revenues recorded a growth of 3.1 per cent year on year despite the challenging situation in Oman following the increased market liberalisation and the launch of fixed services by the other operator. All three business segments — fixed, mobile and wholesale — have contributed to this growth.
Omantel Mobile has achieved the highest retail revenue of OMR70.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Broadband segment both mobile and fixed broadband services have been the key driver for the growth.
Mobile and fixed broadband subscribers grew by 59.5 per cent and 36 per cent, while revenue also recorded a growth of 69 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively.
Commenting on the results, Omantel chief executive officer, Dr Amer Awadh Al Rawas said: "2012 has been yet another successful year for Omantel that saw a good growth in revenue, net profit and customer-base."
"We are delighted with the results the company achieved during 2012 that have seen our subscriber base growing despite the increased domestic competition as well as competition from over the top players and challenging conditions in the domestic market," added Al Rawas.
"During the year, we have successfully launched the first 4G LTE network and rolled out a major 3.5G network development programme following the allocation of the required spectrums by TRA," he said.
These major investments along with the dedicated efforts and contribution of all our stakeholders have enabled us to increase our domestic mobile customer-base by 12.1 per cent year-on-year".
"Despite the major investments we have made during 2012 to enhance our customer experience, we were able to control our expenses and closed the year with a slight increase in the expenses by 1.3 per cent, thanks to the operational efficiency initiatives launched by different units of Omantel. Omantel Chief Executive Officer further pointed out that as part of efficiency improvement, Omantel has implemented the third phase of the Voluntary End of Services (VEoS) programme in the fourth quarter of 2012 covering 36 employees amounting to OMR1.048 million. He also stated that the overall results have been impacted by the loss incurred by the associates and subsidiaries.
Omantel embarked on a number of CSR initiatives and programmes during 2012 and extended support to various organisations and events. Among these projects were the financial support provided to some NGOs and charitable organisations aiming at building capacities of Omani youth and support youth projects as well as providing the necessities required by charitable organisations. Omantel has also renewed its partnership with Information Technology Authority (ITA) for the implementation of the second and third phases of its "National PC Initiative" with the objective to increase the ownership and usage of personal computers amongst certain segments of the Omani population. Omantel has provided, free installation, modem, monthly rental and included usage upto one year as part of this initiative. With an objective to improve the quality of local livestock and support farmers in the rural areas, Omantel partnered with Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to fund a mobile veterinary clinic. Omantel has also provided a financial support to Ministry of Health "Lets Rise" initiative aiming at fighting obesity and promote healthy lifestyle. Omantel also joined hands with Oman Chamber of Commerce to provide five scholarships for Omani school graduates to pursue their higher education.
Omantel SME Business Excellence Awards was another major initiative from the company to promote the entrepreneurship and support the government plans in creating more job opportunities for Omanis. On the social side, Omantel launched the fourth edition of Omantel Ramadhan Charity Campaign under the "Give, Share and Care" and the campaign has been successful in reaching more than 5,000 beneficiaries throughout the Sultanate.
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