The company on Wednesday said that Batelco's operations outside Bahrain had contributed toward 32 percent of revenues and 22 percent of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in Q1 2010.

Batelco Group Chief Executive Peter Kaliaropoulos said during the company's quarterly briefing that Batelco would continue to explore acquisition opportunities in North Africa and Asia, working toward concluding a major deal by the end of the year.

The group, he said, is looking to achieve BD90 to BD100 million net profits in 2010, despite very challenging market conditions in Bahrain and beyond.

He warned that the company might still see a decrease of five to seven percent in net profit by the end of the year.

Kaliaropoulos said Batelco had almost concluded an acquisition deal last year before the selling party made some last minute demands, forcing the deal to collapse.

He said that Batelco continued to deliver strong operating profits and steady revenue growth whilst managing its costs, ending the quarter with five percent EBITDA growth and seven percent growth in its operating profit compared to the same period in 2009.

Batelco has invested $175 million in Stel, $270 million in Yemen's Sabafone, $400 million in Jordan's Omnia and $55 million in Saudi Arabia.

"Given the size of investments, Batleco is perhaps the only company in Bahrain to have such a large business base overseas and this will be further consolidated, in addition to focusing on the Bahraini market with an investment of $60 million in 2010. Bahrain is very important market for us but the growing competition and nature of the telecoms business necessitated us to look beyond local markets," Kaliaropoulos added.