Ooredoo Group’s strong commercial and operational momentum from 2023 has carried over into the first half of 2024, resulting in another strong quarter with growth across all key financial metrics.
Ooredoo Group CEO, Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, highlighted, “In H1 2024, revenue grew by 3% to QAR 11.8 billion, while EBITDA increased by 6% to QAR 5.1 billion, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 43%, improving by 1 percentage point YoY. This growth reflects healthy operational performances in Iraq, Algeria, Qatar, Tunisia and Maldives.”
“Our clear focus on driving profitability has led to a Normalized Net Profit growth of 14% to QAR 1.9 billion while normalized Free Cash Flow grew by 6% to QAR 4.1 billion,” the CEO continued.
Ooredoo completed the sale of its Myanmar operation to Nine Communication Pte in May 2024.
“This transaction is aligned to the ‘value focused pillar’ of our strategy to maintain leading market positions in the countries that we operate in,” noted H.E. Sheikh Faisal Bin Thani Al Thani, Chairman of Ooredoo.
“Ooredoo continued to make good progress in executing its disciplined strategy, aiming to unlock value through operational efficiencies and key strategic initiatives while navigating industry complexities,” the Chairman added.
Looking ahead, Ooredoo’s C-level executives expressed that the company is “on track” to meet its full-year targets and will “remain focused on efficiencies and value creation with a forward-thinking approach to navigate industry dynamics with resilience and adaptability.”
Including IOH and excluding Myanmar, Ooredoo Group’s total customer base reached 150.6 million.
Related: Ooredoo Group's Q1 Success: Revenue Up 4%, Net Profit Soars 26%
Strategic Review
Positioning itself as the leading digital infrastructure provider in the region, Ooredoo remains committed to its strategy based on five fundamental pillars: delivering exceptional customer experience; empowering its people, and nurturing talent; driving innovation as a smart telco; continuously evolving and fortifying its core operations; and maintaining a value-focused portfolio.
It has transformed into a telecom and infrastructure holding company with a delayered multi-business structure, optimizing capital deployment and operational focus for increased asset returns in different lines of business including telcos, towers, data centers, and fintech.
- TowerCo: In December 2023, Ooredoo Group, Zain Group and TASC Towers Holding jointly announced signing of definitive agreements to create the largest tower company in the MENA region, in a cash and share deal. The primary focus is to finalize the transaction in each market. These transactions are anticipated to be completed within the next 18 to 24 months.
- Data Centers: Ooredoo announced the establishment of the MENA Digital Hub, its carrier-neutral data center company. As part of this new, independent, specialized data center entity, the data centers in Qatar and Tunisia were carved out in the first half of 2024 while the data center in Kuwait was carved out in July 2024. Other Ooredoo markets will follow later in 2024.
- AI Advancements: Ooredoo entered a strategic collaboration to become a NVIDIA Network Cloud Partner to drive digitalization and innovation in the region. This collaboration will leverage NVIDIA’s state-of-the-art AI platform, including advanced infrastructure, tools, and software, allowing Ooredoo to deploy thousands of NVIDIA Tensor Core GPUs in its data centers.
- Fintech: Driving financial inclusion in the MENA region, in Q2 2024, Ooredoo Financial Technology International (OFTI) obtained a Payment Service Provider (PSP) license in Oman and has since commenced with the ‘walletii by Ooredoo’ app, the first mobile money app that offers a remittance marketplace enabling users (Ooredoo and non-Ooredoo customers) to make payments as well as send and receive money both domestically and internationally. This year, Ooredoo Group has continued to pursue license applications in Kuwait, Iraq, and Tunisia.
Operating Companies H1 2024 Highlights
In the Middle East, Ooredoo Qatar’s reported revenue decreased by 5% YoY to QAR 3.579 million while EBITDA increased by 5% YoY to QAR 1.9 million on a reported basis. Moreover, Ooredoo Qatar closed the first half of the year with a customer base of 3.0 million, reflecting an increase of 1% YoY supported by continuous enhancements in value propositions and digital innovation, including its extended partnership with Netcracker.
Ooredoo Kuwait’s service revenue continued to grow due to increased usage in data and digital, such as its breakthrough with 5G-Advanced mmWave technology. As a result, the underlying performance of the operation remained healthy with an 8% YoY revenue increase to QAR 1,571 million, while more customers were added during H1 2024 (up by 2% YoY).
Due to intense competition in the mobile segment, Ooredoo Oman’s mobile service revenue experienced elevated pressure, resulting in a 3% YoY revenue decline to QAR 1,198 million. Yet, the entity continued to move forward with the appointment of new C-level executives to key positions within the organization. Highlighting the telco’s evolution, CCO, Quique Vivas told Telecom Review that a “B2B2C” approach is needed to help “understand the customer journey” and “to keep serving the evolving demands of customers.” During Q2 2024, Ooredoo Oman also signed an agreement for the landing of the 2Africa Cable System in Barka and Salalah, marking the most extensive subsea cable system landing in the Sultanate of Oman to date.
On the other hand, Asiacell demonstrated a strong performance in H1 2024, with double-digit revenue growth of 23% YoY to QAR 2,486 million. This growth was underpinned by customer additions and an increased adoption of data services, leading to a 7% YoY growth in its customer base of 18.3 million.
Amid a challenging operating environment, Ooredoo Palestine continuously supported its customers and ensured they remained connected, while increasing its customer base by 9% YoY to 1.5 million.
In North Africa, Ooredoo Algeria continued to build on its strong momentum, maintaining double-digit growth in revenue (15% YoY) and EBITDA (21% YoY). Revenue grew by to QAR 1,345 million, benefitting primarily from higher data and digital revenue supported by the high-quality network, with an increased customer base of 13.7 million (5% YoY).
During H1 2024, Ooredoo Tunisia’s good revenue growth (3% YoY) and strong cost control also led to an improved EBITDA performance, up by 20% YoY to QAR 297 million.
In Asia, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) achieved solid YoY growth across all key metrics: revenue reflected a 13% increase, EBITDA grew by 18% and the EBITDA margin expanded by 2pp to 48%.
Additionally, during the first half of 2024, Ooredoo Maldives achieved a robust performance, demonstrating a YoY revenue increase of 8% to QAR 259 million, which was supported mainly by growth in the mobile segment.
