VIVA Kuwait, a subsidiary of Saudi Telecom Company (STC), published its third quarter earnings for 2017 showing a financial slump compared to the same period last year. VIVA reported net profits of KD 28.3 million (approx. US$ 93.5 million) during the nine month period ended 30 September 2017 compared to net profit of KD 29 million (approx. US$ 95.8 million) during the same period in 2016.
In a press statement, Dr. Mahmoud Ahmed Abdulrahman, VIVA's Chairman, noted that VIVA faces stiff competition in Kuwait, but was still able to "sustain the operational efficiency to ensure generating positive returns to our shareholders." VIVA competes with Kuwait-based Zain Group and Qatar's Ooredoo in Kuwait.
Dr. Mahmoud said VIVA was able to achieve these results "due to an integrated management approach by a highly professional team that reinforces VIVA's substantial and positive role as a leading telecommunications company that always provides intelligent communications solutions to satisfy the needs of customers and meet their needs."
Mr. Mohammed Bin AbdulMohsen Al-Assaf, Chief Financial Officer at VIVA, said the company's Q3 results "reflect its ability to compete, sustain revenues and maintain its position as the second largest telecom operator in the Kuwaiti market in terms of revenues in the telecom sector. In addition, it fostered the VIVA's shareholders equity base, which reached about KD 156 million, thus reflecting the strength and growth of VIVA's financial position."
The company managed to decrease the debt level from KD 56.9 million as at 30 September 2016 to KD 29.4 million as at 30 September 2017, due to its "prudent financial policy and its leverage ratio reached 0.19x at the end of September 2017 as compared to 0.47x recorded at end of September 2016," said Al-Assaf.
He said the company will continue its hard work in implementing its strategy to maintain a competitive edge and achieve further growth and success in the Kuwaiti telecom market through offering innovative products and services in line with the latest technology.
It is worth noting that VIVA was recently recognized as "Speedtest Award Winner 2017 - Kuwait's Fastest Mobile Network", based on Ookla's analysis of Speedtest Intelligence data in 2017.
VIVA also achieved the establishment of the first Voice over LTE (VoLTE) interconnection in the Middle East and North Africa in partnership with local networks, and was the first telecom company in Kuwait to successfully test 5G in its lab.
