Telecom giant Ooredoo Maldives’ revenue has spiked above MVR 1 billion, boosting the profit of the entire Ooredoo Group and becoming its fastest progressing branch.
According to the financial statistics of the first nine months of 2016 publicised by the Ooredoo headquarters in Doha, Qatar, the overall revenue of the group amounted to 533 million Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD), which is USD 1.8 billion (MVR 27.7 billion). The revenue falls three percent short of last year’s record.
Despite the drop in revenue, Ooredoo Group’s net profit had spiked by 15 percent with KWD 32 million (USD 105 million, MVR 1.6 billion) compared to last year’s KWD 28.1 million (USD 92 million, MVR 1.4 billion).
Including the Maldives, Ooredoo operates branches in 12 countries of the Middle-East and African continent, out of which the statistics show that the fastest growing branch is Ooredoo Maldives. The number of Ooredoo Maldives’ customers had increased to 400,000 within the first three quarters of 2016, which is a 14 percent increase from last year considering a nation with a population of approximately 350,000.
Ooredoo Maldives’ revenue so far this year also shows a huge increase with KWD 23.8 million (USD 78 million, MVR 1.2 billion) by the end of September, which is an increase of 38 percent from the previou year’s KWD 17.3 million (USD 57 million, MVR 883 million).
Ooredoo’s entry into the Maldivian scene was heralded by Wataniya, a company of Kuwait’s Qtel brand, which commenced telecommunications services in the Maldives in 2005 following the government’s decision to introduce competition to expand local telecom giant Dhiraagu, then the only telecom firm in the archipelago. When the Ooredoo Group purchased Qtel, all Wataniya branches were rebranded as Ooredoo, thus converting Wataniya Maldives to Ooredoo Maldives.
The Maldivian branch of Ooredoo is also listed on the Maldives Stock Exchange, becoming the first international firm to go public in the Maldives. It is scheduled to commence selling shares in the second quarter of 2017.
Sign In