Ooredoo Kuwait said that revenues decreased by 5 percent to KWD 294.1 million in the first six months to 30 June from KWD 310.4 million a year earlier.
Revenues in Kuwaiti dinars were hit by lower sales in Kuwait, substantial support for local customers free of charge, a decrease in Algerian revenue mainly due to the weak economic environment, currency devaluation, price competition and the impact of Covid-19 and related business limitations in all operations.
The customer base decreased by 3 percent to 25.9 million from 26.7 million in H1 2019. EBITDA fell by 15 percent in H1 2020 to KWD 99.0 million from KWD 115.9 million in the same period in 2019.
Net profit dropped to KWD 1.7 million from KWD 17.3 million for the same period in 2019. Consolidated earnings per share were KWD 0.03 for H1 2020 compared with EPS of KWD 0.35 a year earlier.
Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al Thani, Chairman of the Board of Directors commented:
“The first half of 2020 was a challenging time for everyone around the world, with significant disruptions in our daily lives as communities and government came together to help contain the spread of COVID-19. Ooredoo Kuwait’s (NMTC) key priorities during this period were the health and wellbeing of our employees and customers, the provision of uninterrupted connectivity to support working, studying and socializing from home, and the empowerment of communities most affected by the pandemic.”
“Our business was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as movement restrictions and retail closures resulted in changes in customer consumption patterns, and monetizable mobile usage shifted to all-inclusive fixed lines services. Therefore, NMTC reported revenues of KWD 294.1 million during the first half of 2020, down 5% compared to the same period last year. The decline in revenue flowed through to our EBITDA and Net Profit which were KWD 99.0 million (H1 2019: KWD 115.9 million) and KWD 1.7 million (H1 2019: KWD 17.3 million) during H1 2020.”
