Omani Telco Nawras Q3 Net Profit Jumps 36%

Nawras, Oman’s No.2 telecom operator by subscribers, reported a 35.9 per cent rise in third-quarter profit on Wednesday as margins improved and revenue and its customer base increased.

The firm, majority-owned by Ooredoo, made a net profit of OMR10.8 million ($28.1 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, up from OMR8 million in the year-earlier period, according to a statement to Oman’s bourse.

One analyst polled by Reuters forecast Nawras would make a quarterly profit of OMR10.2 million.

Chief executive Greg Young told Reuters in September that Nawras was reaping the rewards of heavy investment in its network over the past few years. It has now reported rising profits in four of the past five quarters, but before that profits fell for seven straight quarters.

Third-quarter revenue was OMR57.8 million, Nawras said. This compares with OMR50.8 million a year ago.

It quarterly earnings before tax, depreciation, tax and amortisation (EBITDA) were OMR31.2 million, up 27.3 per cent on a year earlier.

Nawras, which ended Oman Telecommunication Co’s (Omantel) monopoly in 2005, had 2.51 million subscribers as of Sept. 30, up 6.5 per cent from a year ago.