Sultan Al-Harthy: Omantel Group Net Profits Surges to RO 113 Million

Increase of Community Support Donation to R.O 500,000

Reduction of the Legal Reserve to One Third

Muscat, 27th March 2012

The Annual Ordinary General Assembly of Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel msm: OTEL) approved the proposed distribution of cash dividends to shareholders amounting to 100 % of the capital (equivalent of 100 baizas per share) and authorized the Company's Board of Directors to distribute interim dividends to maximum 40% from the paid up capital on August 2012. The Company's Extraordinary General Meeting approved the reduction of the legal reserve to one third of the capital and transfer of the surplus to the retained earnings.

This came during the Extraordinary General Meeting and the Annual General Meeting held at the Company's headquarters building at Mawaleh yesterday (Tuesday 27 March 2012). The AGM has also approved the report of the Board of Directors for the fiscal year ending on 31/12/2011, the company's corporate governance report for the year ending on 31/12/2011 and the report of the independent auditors. It has also approved the profit and loss account and approved the balance sheet for the fiscal year ending on 31/12/2011.

The Annual General Meeting furthermore approved the Board members remuneration,   ratified the sitting fees for Board meetings and other committees paid to the members of the Board of Directors for the fiscal year that ended on 31/12/2011. It has also determined the sitting fees for the next fiscal year ending on 31/12/2011. The Assembly has taken note of the company's transactions with related parties during the fiscal year ending on 31/12/2011. It has also increased  the proposed donations for community service amounting to RO 500,000 and approved the appointment of independent auditors for the next fiscal year ending on 31/12/2012 and determined their fees.

Net profits
It is worth mentioning that Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) has achieved net profits of RO 113 million during the year that ended on 31/12/2011. The company's Revenues have increased to RO 452 million supported by the growth of retail operations and wholesale revenues.

Commenting on Omantel's performance in 2011, H.E Sultan Hamdoon Al Harthy Chairman of Omantel Board of Directors said "We are pleased with these results that witnessed a growth in our net profit despite the challenging market conditions and increased competition".

Our retail revenues have grown by 8.3% while the wholesale revenue have grown by 3.4% despite the liberalization of international gateway operations" Al Harthy added.

Expenses
HE Sultan bin Hamdoun Al Harthy indicated that operating expenses increased by 11.1% to reach RO 329.7 million compared to RO 297.1 1 million in 2010. He said, "This increase in expenses was driven by the cost incurred from the sale of capacities in the Europe India Gateway Cable to international operators and came as well as a result of the efforts to roll out the 3.5G network to cover new regions in the Sultanate and the gradual transition to the Next Generation Networks (NGN)." He added that the company has completed last year the installation of approximately 1000 3.5G base stations in various parts of the Sultanate. As a natural result of these capital, the depreciation charges have increased , which is a natural result in light of the expansion adopted and introduction of modern technology to provide best of services. Increased employee costs driven by the successful employment of 200 jobseekers and improvements of employee benefits implemented in the second quarter of 2011 were the second major contributor to the increase in expenses"

"The total number of subscribers in all services has increased by 6% to 3.530 million as in December 2011 against 3.329 million subscribers last year. This number includes 930,000 subscribers of the World Call Company, Al Harthi explained.

Earning per share reached RO 0.149 for the period ending on 31 December 2011, which is almost the same level of 2010.  

Future outlook
The company has completed the full integration of Oman Mobile into Omantel parent company with a legal merger announced in Dec'2011. The rebranding program with emphasis on "Together" with increased focus on "Omantel" as the key brand would facilitate to be a top brand in Oman. We will continue to emphasis on providing enhanced customer experience as well as bringing innovative and affordable services to our valued customers, Al Harthi concluded.

-Ends-

For further information, please contact:
Mohamed Al Salmi,
Manager Media and Public Relations
Omantel
Tel: 00 968 24244658
Mobile: 00 968 99879879
Fax: 00 96824240111
Email: mohamed.salmi@omantel.om

© Press Release 2012