Egypt's Mobinil Q4 net profit up 5pct to $106m

Egyptian mobile operator Mobinil posted net profit of 581m Egyptian pounds ($106m) in the fourth quarter, up 5.4 percent on a year earlier and above the average forecast in a Reuters poll.

The company, which leads Egypt's competitive mobile market, said on Wednesday it had a total of 25.35 million subscribers by the end of December, up from 24.63 million three months before.

It posted revenue of 2.80bn pounds and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) of 1.32bn.

"I am really delighted to see the level of growth achieved given the tough conditions we operated under during the year," Mobinil Chairman Alex Shalaby said in the earnings statement.

Nine analysts polled by Reuters had forecast profit between 461m pounds and 643m and 10 saw revenue between 2.86bn and 3.00bn.

Analysts were impressed by margin figures in the quarter, but slightly less happy with the top-line.

"More or less neutral, just a little bit disappointing on the revenue side, but EBITDA came exactly in line, which is what we care about," CI Capital telecom analyst Amr Hussein Elalfy said. "It seems that their cost optimisation strategy is working, especially in the fourth quarter."

Mobinil is engaged in a pricing war with the two other operators, Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat Egypt, that eased slightly in the quarter.

"ARPUs didn't suffer like they did in the third quarter," said Naeem telecom analyst Ahmed Adel. "But still there is intense competition."

Mobinil is the focus of an ownership dispute between its two main shareholders, regional operator Orascom Telecom and France Telecom.

An Egyptian administrative court is due to issue a detailed ruling on Saturday, after earlier blocking the market regulator's decision to allow the French firm to buy outstanding shares in the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (ECMS), known by its Mobinil brand name.

Mobinil shares closed 0.9 per cent lower at 220 pounds before the earnings release, valuing the company at 22bn pounds.