Omantel has reported a 7.2 percent increase in its revenues for the third quarter to OMR 383.3 million from OMR 357.6 million in the corresponding period of 2014.
This was mainly driven by domestic retail revenues, which have recorded a growth of 7.8 percent to OMR 377.7 million from OMR 350.4 million for the corresponding period of year 2014.
There was a strong performance by both fixed and mobile broadband as well as wholesale services. Fixed and mobile broadband revenues witnessed a growth rate of around 26 percent.
Omantel was able to arrest the decline in international call revenues and achieved a growth in the third quarter compared with previous periods.
Net profit fell to OMR 90.7 million from OMR 95.9 million in 2014, mainly caused by a loss at subsidiary Worldcall, in addition to non-recurrent costs.
The decline was also caused by significant reduction in finance and other income categories, resulting from the steep decline in the value of portfolio investments, due to the meltdown in the global and regional security markets during this period.
Both mobile and fixed broadband services have been key drivers for growth. Fixed and mobile broadband subscribers grew by 31 percent and 13 percent. Omantel’s domestic subscriber base witnessed a growth of 3.8 percent on 30 September, reaching 3.38 million, excluding mobile resellers.
Expenses for the period increased by 10.1 percent to OMR 283.6 million from OMR 257.6 million in 2014. The major reasons were an increase in roaming, operating and maintenance (O&M), depreciation, employee costs, marketing costs and administrative expenses.
The increase in O&M is mainly on account of revenue-related costs such as submarine cable IRU sales costs, cost of devices and roaming operator costs.