Batelco achieves H1 2021 net profit attributable to equity holders of BD37.5 million, a 5 per cent YoY increase

Financial and Operational Highlights

Commenting on Batelco’s performance for the first half of 2021, Batelco Chairman, Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said, “Batelco’s Board is pleased with the Company’s performance for the first half of the year.

Following a positive start to the year, we are glad to maintain the momentum, which is reflected in our financial results for the second quarter. Batelco achieved a 4% increase in revenues, contributing to a 4% increase in EBITDA and 5% increase in net profit for the six months ended June 2021. We appreciate the efforts of the executive team for their diligent management and commitment to implementing the strategic objectives.”

“Delivering strong returns for Batelco’s shareholders is a priority for the Board of Directors and accordingly, we are glad to note an increase in Earnings Per Share (EPS) of 22.7 fils for the six month period, up from 21.7 fils in H1 2020,” the Chairman added.

“We’re proud of being the first telecom company in the GCC to receive a license for Open Banking, with the establishment of Batelco’s new licensed company, Batelco Financial Services. This step reflects the Board’s aspirations to advance steadily towards digital transformation while enhancing and growing Batelco’s core business,” the Chairman continued.

Shaikh Abdulla concluded, “Investments in growing our digital portfolio is in line with international trends and continues to be an important step in our strategic plans to ensure that Batelco is in a position to be a key player in the growth of Bahrain’s digital economy."

Speaking following the announcement of the Half-Year financials, Batelco CEO Mikkel Vinter said, “We are proud of the strong financial results for the first six months of 2021, which are supported by year-on-year increases in fixed broadband, adjacent services and wholesale revenues.”

“It’s been rewarding to make good progress in converting key strategic plans in the digital space into actions, including the successful roll-out of key projects such as the launch of Batelco Financial Services, to provide both consumers and SMEs with a broad range of financial related services such as digital wallet creation and cards issuance services.”

“During the first half of 2021, Batelco focussed on delivering exceptional speeds and innovative products for the enterprise, consumer, and global business sectors. Key achievements included introducing new 5G Mobile Broadband packages to deliver speeds six times faster than 4G, and redesigned Home Fiber Broadband packages with speeds as high as 1Gbps.

“The development of Batelco’s Data Centres remains high on the agenda and in line with world-class standards in Data security, our teams worked hard to achieve PCI DSS ‘Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard’ compliance, for Batelco’s three Data Centers, thus ensuring a reliable and highly secure data storage environment for our customers.”

“The successes of the second quarter reflect the dedicated efforts of the entire Batelco team who worked together to achieve the desired results. I am grateful to each team member and encourage them to keep up the positive momentum to execute our ambitious business plans for the second half of 2021,” Mr. Vinter concluded.