- DUBAI: Kuwait’s Wataniya reported a 13.5 percent fall in its third-quarter net profit as foreign exchange losses ate into the telecoms operator’s bottom line.
Wataniya, majority-owned by Qatar Telecommunications (Qtel), made a net profit of 15.5 million dinars ($56.4 million) in the third quarter, compared with a profit of 17.9 million dinars in the same period a year ago.
“Net Profit in Q3 2011 compared to 2010 (was) impacted mainly by foreign currency exchange fluctuations in Algeria and Kuwait,” Wataniya said in a statement.
Wataniya — also called National Mobile Telecommunications Co. — has interests in Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Maldives and Palestine.
Third-quarter revenue was 188 million dinars in the quarter, up 140 million dinars a year earlier, while margins rose three percentage points over the same period to 42 percent.
The operator’s shares closed 1 percent higher on Kuwait’s bourse before the results were announced, taking their gains to 4.2 percent in 2011.