JEDDAH: Despite intense competition in the Kingdom’s telecom sector, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) on Monday announced gross revenues of SR13.06 billion ($3.48 billion), 21 percent above the previous year’s SR10.79 billion ($2.88 billion).
The company said net profit jumped 44 percent to SR3.01 billion ($804 million) compared to SR2.09 billion ($558 million) during 2008.
Net profit for the fourth quarter increased by 35 percent to SR1.05 billion ($281 million) compared to SR778 million ($207 million) for the same quarter of the previous year. The company made SR807 million ($215 million) profit for the third quarter of 2009.
For the year 2009, the company’s board of directors has recommended a dividend of SR875 million (SR1.25 per share) compared to SR525 million (SR0.75 per share) for the previous year — an increase of 66.66 percent.
“The Haj season was better than expected with Mobily capturing 52 percent of pilgrimage market (1.3 million of the 2.5 million pilgrims). The 3.5G network in and around Makkah saw a 73 percent increase in traffic compared to the previous year.
The increase in traffic was achieved in the face of a decline in the number of pilgrims, the threat of swine flu, the sudden and overwhelming weather conditions and competition by the third operator,” Mobily’s Chairman Abdulaziz Al-Sughayer said in a statement.
Mobily’s Chief Marketing Officer David Murphy said: “We beat market expectations in 2009. The year was excellent all around. Mobily’s market share also increased to 41 percent compared to 39 percent in 2008. We expect similar success this year as we have major expansion plans,” he added.
Murphy said overall subscriber base of Mobily has also increased to over 18 million in 2009 from 14 million in 2008, among them more than 1 million mobile broadband customers subscribed to high-usage data bundles (unlimited, 5 gigabytes, 1 gigabytes) and connected to the Internet using Mobily’s HSPA network.
Daily data traffic, uploaded and downloaded by customers has grown to exceed 50 terabyte (TB) compared to 19 TB in 2008. Data contribution for 2009 to revenue was 14 percent compared to 9 percent in the previous year, he said.
Murphy said mobile broadband revenue based on HSPA technology increased by 159 percent compared to the previous year. It is expected that Mobily will maintain its leading position in the mobile broadband segment in the Kingdom. Wholesale revenue represented by sales to third parties increased by 470 percent compared to 2008.
Murphy said Mobily uses its own infrastructure and it is no more dependent on Saudi Telecom Co.’s facilities. He said even Zain Saudi Arabia and Atheeb Telecom use Mobily facilities for their network.
“Mobily has segmented packages that match every customer’s needs, such as ‘Raqi,’ ‘Fallah’ and ‘Blue wave,’” said Murphy. “Also, Mobily has a new offer for international calls, in which subscribers can call their loved ones anywhere in the world at a rate of only 66 halalas per minute.”
Murphy said Mobily’s shares performed particularly well during the year outstripping both the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) and the Telecom Index by 40 percent and 9 percent respectively.
Al-Sughayer said: “Mobily is a results oriented company with a proven track record that has successfully met the challenges of the past and has a clear vision of the future.
