The Chairman informed the board that earnings per share were 26.9 fils and the board of directors approved an interim cash dividend of 20 fils per share.
He also said that Batelco Group had exceeded the 10 million customers mark across its operations as the Company celebrates its 30th anniversary serving the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Earlier, Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) and Batelco as consortium announced they had entered into a non-binding term sheet with Mobile Telecommunications Company Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA) in respect of the proposed acquisition all the shares held by Mobile Telecommunications Company Zain KSA.
This follows Zain’s acceptance of a non-binding offer from the Consortium to acquire such shares, being 25% of the total issued shares of Zain KSA, as previously announced by each of Zain, KHC and Batelco.
“We are extremely pleased with the continuing growth of our customer numbers, which have increased by nearly 500,000 since Q1 to now reach 10.3 million. Despite the intense competitive nature of the Bahrain market, we are also pleased that we have retained market leadership for mobile services and data network solutions,” said Shaikh Hamad.
“We will continue to invest in the Kingdom growing the economy by delivering our best range of products and services, through innovative technology to benefit consumers and businesses in Bahrain,” Shaikh Hamad added.
Batelco Group Chief Executive Officer, Peter Kaliaropoulos said that Batelco’s financial results for the half year 2011 remain consistent with market guidance.
“Batelco’s consolidated gross revenues of BD163.2 million declined by 4% compared to the same period last year. However, our Q2 versus Q1 results delivered 2% growth in gross revenues, flat operating profit at BD22.7M and growth in net profit,” said Kaliaropoulos.
“We continue to focus on executing our business strategy which is underpinned by growth in customer base and diversification of revenues and profits,” said Kaliaropoulos.
“The collective efforts of our people have resulted in a customer base of over 10.3 million. Also 37% of our revenues and 25% of our operating profit are now sourced from markets outside Bahrain delivering sound diversification of our business operations.”
“Our Group mobile customer base grew by 12% to 9.89 million since Q4 2010 while our Group Broadband customer base has grown by 8% during the same period.”
The Group’s 96% owned subsidiary in Jordan, Umniah, continues to deliver a solid performance and reported an 8% increase in its number of mobile subscribers since the beginning of the year, with their customer base now standing at 2.3 million.
STel in India now delivers mobile services to 3.3 million customers, a 43% increase since the beginning of 2011.
In Bahrain, Batelco’s total mobile customer base has improved marginally showing an increase of 2% since Q1, 2011. However, while Batelco’s wireless broadband services grew by 14% the fixed line services continued to show decline, as more and more customers migrate to mobile services.
“Mobile and broadband operators in Bahrain continue to add new customers; however, revenues per customer are declining whilst costs to acquire and retain customers are growing. In a highly penetrated market for mobiles (150% of population) and broadband (110% of households and businesses) with 3 mobile operators, this is a natural competitive consequence,” Kaliaropoulos said.