Wednesday, 15 February 2012 at 18:35, Reuters, Dubai
Wataniya said revenue was 186.4m dinars in the fourth quarter, up from 138.7m dinars a year earlier. (REUTERS)
Kuwait's Wataniya on Wednesday reported a 57 per cent rise in its fourth-quarter net profit as the telecoms operator included more consolidated earnings from its Tunisian unit.
Wataniya, majority-owned by Qatar Telecom (Qtel), made a net profit of 38.2 million dinars ($137.4 m) in the fourth quarter, compared with a profit of 24.3m dinars in the same period a year earlier.
In 2011, Wataniya raised its stake in its unit Tunisiana to 75 per cent. This enabled Wataniya to consolidate 100 per cent of Tunisiana's revenue from the first-quarter of 2011 onwards, up from 50 per cent, while it now includes three-quarters of Tunisiana's profit, also up from 50 per cent.
Wataniya said revenue was 186.4m dinars in the fourth quarter, up from 138.7m dinars a year earlier.
The firm, which has operations in Kuwait, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Maldives and the Palestinian territories, said its consolidated customer base was 17.8m at the end of 2011, up 7.4 per cent from a year earlier.
The operator's shares closed 1 per cent lower on Kuwait's bourse before the results were announced, trimming their 2012 gains to 3.1 per cent.
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