Wataniya Telecom Q2 earnings up 18.7%

Kuwait’s National Mobile Telecommunications Co (Wataniya) posted an 18.7 per cent rise in earnings, helped by a strong revenue growth. The company made a net profit of 23.3 million dinars ($85.2 million) in the second quarter, up from 19.6 million dinars a year earlier, it said in a statement on Sunday. Wataniya, a unit of Qatar Telecommunications Co, said consolidated revenue rose 35.2 per cent to 182.3 million dinars to in the quarter from a year earlier.“Year-on year revenue increase of 15.4 per cent in Kuwait and 30.6 per cent in Algeria shows that investments of previous periods are starting to pay off and that we are capable of driving progress in competitive markets,” Chairman Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Thani said in the statement.In Algeria, the net attributable profit from the Nedjma unit was $27.8 million in the first half of the year, compared to a $3.5 million net attributable loss in 2010. The total customer base rose 6.8 per cent to 16.9 million at the end of June from a year earlier. Half-year earnings rose 19.8 per cent to 43 million dinars, excluding a non-cash fair value gain of 265.5 million dinars recorded in the first quarter due to a revaluation of the interest held in  Tunisiana. From / Gulf Today