Ooredoo Group announced the results for the half year ended 30 June 2021. First half 2021 revenue stood at QAR 14.5 billion, an increase of 3% compared to the same period last year.
Commenting on the results, HE Sheikh Faisal Bin Thani Al Thani, chairman of Ooredoo, said, “We had a good first half of the year, with a revenue increase of 3%, as we further progressed our digital strategy, whilst effectively managing our costs and overheads to support the growth of our business across our various markets. Consequently, our EBITDA margin improved to 44%, up from 42% for H1 2020, despite the challenges presented to us due to COVID-19.
“Our response to the pandemic and our robust strategy enabled us to report solid operational and financial performance. The confidence of our customers resulted in an increase of our customer base by an additional one percent. We continue to focus on providing reliable connectivity and innovative products to our customers and are proud to be leading in this space.”
Ooredoo Algeria
Despite partial home confinement measures imposed in Algeria, the main macroeconomic indicators in Algeria started showing early signs of recovery in economic activity especially as the government launched its national vaccination programme. As a result of this recovery, Ooredoo Algeria’s EBITDA showed an 8% increase in H1 2021 compared to same period last year. The company’s focus on efficiency and cost optimisation supported a healthy EBITDA margin of 36% in H1 2021. Revenue stood flat at QAR 1.1 billion, in local currency terms it has increased by 8%. Ooredoo Algeria continued prioritising its digital action plan and launched “Yooz”, a new digital prepaid offer targeting Algerian youth to help them personalise their own data plans virtually and access exclusive digital content.
Ooredoo Algeria’s network site availability and 4G network rollout increased during the period. On May 20, Ooredoo Algeria announced the appointment of Bassam Yousef Al Ibrahim as chief executive officer.
Ooredoo Tunisia
Ooredoo Tunisia delivered a strong set of results despite effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, with revenue of QAR 793 million in H1 2021, an increase of 8% compared to the same period last year.
Ooredoo Tunisia reported an EBITDA of QAR 329 million for the first six months of 2021, up 5% compared to the same period last year. The company remains focused on the implementation of its value creation plan which includes expanding its digital proposition and streamlining its operations through the digitisation of its sales and distribution channels.
Ooredoo Tunisia changed the reporting of its prepaid customer’s base from the original life-cycle definition to 90 days network activity definition: customer base stood at 7.2 million.