Batelco Q3 net profit, customer base grow

TDT | Manama                

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com  

Improved customer base and strong revenues powered Batelco in the third quarter of 2022 to a profit that rose 4% from a year ago, despite being impacted by the devaluation of the British Pound in key international investments.

We “accelerated the efforts in other key business areas including mobile and adjacent services, which led to improved revenue growth for the period,” said Mikkel Vinter, the CEO of Batelco, after reporting a 2% increase in Q3 revenues.

“The positive results reflect the Company’s efforts to meet our stakeholders’ expectations and support the Board of Directors’ commitment to delivering ongoing value on shareholder investment,” said Batelco Chairman, Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.

Q3 Results

Third-quarter net profit attributable to equity holders of the company rose 4% to BD16.3 million (US$43.2m) from BD15.7m (US$41.6m) in the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share are 9.8 fils compared to 9.5 fils in Q3 2021.

However, the impact of foreign currency translation differences hurt the total comprehensive income attributable to equity holders which dropped 22% to BD10.5m (US$27.9m) from the year-earlier quarter.

Quarterly revenues rose 2% to BD100.6m (US$266.8m) from BD98.2m (US$260.5m) in the prior-year quarter. Operating profit increased 5% to BD22.8m, while EBITDA slipped 1% to BD40.1m from the same quarter a year ago.

Nine-month results

Net profit attributable to equity holders of the company rose 2% to BD54.1m (US$143.5m) from BD53.2m (US$141.1m) in the 2021 period. Earnings per share (EPS) are 32.8 fils compared to an EPS of 32.2 fils in the prior-year period.

Total comprehensive income attributable to equity holders of the company dropped 40% to BD36.2m (US$96.0m) from the year-ago period, hurt by foreign exchange translation differences and investment fair value changes.

Revenues were BD298.3m (US$791.2m), 1% higher than BD296.4m (US$786.2m) of revenues in 2021. Operating profits decreased 2% to BD69.6m (US$184.6m) from last year’s period due to increases in operating expenses.

EBITDA decreased 2% from BD126.0 (US$334.2) in 2021 to BD123.5 (US$327.6) in 2022. The company maintained a healthy EBITDA margin of 41% in for the first nine months of 2022.

Cash and bank balances are at BD217.1m (US$575.9m), which reflects the 2022 interim dividend of 13.5 fils per share paid in August 2022. The customer base improved by 4% to 4.1 million from 3.9 million in the same period a year ago.

Looking ahead, Shaikh Abdullah said, “Batelco continued to focus on the core business to enhance its network and expand global connectivity. We are pleased to see the progress being made by the Beyon brands in line with our digital growth strategy.

As part of expanding its footprint overseas, Beyon Cyber, the Group’s advanced cyber security company signed an MOU with the government of the Maldives during the visit of H.E. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, President of the Republic of the Maldives, to the Kingdom of Bahrain.”

Vinter added: “Elevating the customer digital experience is at the heart of our service development, and we have further enhanced the Batelco app, enabling advanced features and improved user experience. We have also opened an innovative, first of its kind in Bahrain new digital shop, which enables customers to complete 90% of all Batelco transactions completely digitally.”