Ooredoo's second-quarter profit plummets 60% amid Indonesia and Algeria market challenges

Qatar-based telco net profit attributable to shareholders tumbles to 203 million riyals from 513m riyals

Qatar's Ooredoo posts 60 per cent decline in second-quarter net income. REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad/

Qatar-based telecoms operator Ooredoo said second-quarter net profit plunged 60 per cent amid market challenges in Indonesia and Algeria and unfavourable currency exchange rates in Myanmar.

Net profit attributable to shareholders for the three months ending June 30 more than halved to 203 million riyals (Dh204.8m) from 513m riyals in the prior-year period, Ooredoo said in a statement on the Abu Dhabi bourse on Monday. It was the second consecutive quarterly profit drop for Ooredoo and fell short of a median estimate of 327.5m riyals, according to two analysts polled by Bloomberg. Revenues fell 8 per cent to 7.52 billion riyals in the second quarter from 8.21bn riyals year-on-year.

Market challenges and lower revenue in Indonesia and Algeria, combined with "substantial" foreign exchange loss in Myanmar, impacted performance in the first half of 2018, Ooredoo said in a statement on its website on June 29.

Ooredoo, which has a dual listing on the Qatar and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges, operates in 10 markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. Regional telecoms operators Etisalat and du earlier reported a 12.4 per cent and 1.3 per cent increase respectively in second-quarter net income.

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In Algeria, the company's revenues were affected by devaluation of the Algerian Dinar, a weak economic environment and "intense" competition, Ooredoo said. 
Its subscriber base slumped 13 per cent to 130 million customers in the second quarter from 149 million  in the same period a year ago because of SIM card registration requirements by Indonesia's telecom operator, the company said.

Its Indonesian unit, Indosat Ooredoo, saw a 22 per cent decrease in the number of customers in the first half due to the new requirements, it said. Its top line was also squeezed by a "market trend" of declining voice and SMS revenues that were not offset by data revenue.