Wataniya Q3 Profits Down 69%

Wataniya, Kuwait's second largest mobile phone operator by subscribers has reported a 69% drop in net profit for the three months ending 30 June 2010.

The company made a net profit of KWD19.6 million (USD68.32 million) during Q2 2010, down from KWD63.5 million one year earlier. Net profit in 1H10 was reported at KWD35.8 million, down from KWD78.8 million in the first half of 2009.

Wataniya, itself a unit of Qatar Telecom (Qtel, which will publish its Q2 results on Sunday), operates in markets including Algeria, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and the Maldives.

MTN Signs Deal With Manchester United

Following deals with Telekom Malaysia  and Turkish Airlines in March and January respectively, Manchester United has announced a new sponsorship deal with the South African mobile phone operator MTN.

The commercial package is understood to run until the end of 2013.

Following deals with Telekom Malaysia and Turkish Airlines in March and January respectively, Manchester United has announced a new sponsorship deal with the South African mobile phone operator MTN.

MTN claims to be Africa's largest pure-play mobile phone operator with 116 million subscribers across 21 countries.

MUFC also has other related commercial arrangements with a variety of overseas-owned companies including India’s Bharti Airtel and Saudi Telecom Company.

David Gill, the club’s chief executive, said the deal with MTN is a “Very important step in the club’s plan to get closer to its family of fans based all over the world.”

Last year the club that it had signed a four-year sponsorship deal with America's Aon Corp, which was valued £80m. The new deal sees Aon takes over from AIG for the 2010-11 season.

Rotana To Supply Content To Meditel

Moroccan mobile operator Medi Telecom (Meditel) has signed a deal with Saudi Arabian broadcaster Rotana Media as part of a drive to attract more young subscribers with online entertainment content, Reuters reports.

Rotana, part of Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holding company, controls 85% of the music market among the Arab world's more than 300 million population and has 60% of its film distribution and production market, according to the article.

The partnership deal with Meditel includes all Rotana content, Rotana Digital Media Chairman Youssef Mugharbil told journalists, whilst the firm plans to strike similar deals with firms in the region and beyond if the venture proves successful.

Zain, Etisalat Deny Acquisition Claim

Emirates Telecommunication Corp., or Etisalat, is not in talks to buy a 51% stake in Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunication Corp., or Zain, a senior company official said Tuesday. "We are not in negotiations with Zain," Ahmed bin Ali, Etisalat's manager of corporate communications, told Zawya Dow Jones.

Media reports cited an Etisalat official as saying that the company is interested in buying a 51% stake in Zain. Bin Ali said the official's comment was a "general opinion of an employee." Zain spokesperson declined to comment.

Zain and Etisalat are the two largest telecom operators in the region by market capitalization after Saudi Telecom. Etisalat's market capitalization is $20.64 billion, while Zain's is $17.83 billion. The two operators compete in many of the same markets. Both have operations in Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Nigeria among other countries.

In comments to Zawya Dow Jones in April, Etisalat's chairman said the company was looking to expand across the Mideast, Asia and Africa.

In May, a Zain executive told Zawya Dow Jones that the company's focus for the year is no longer on mergers and acquisitions. Instead the aim is to synergize Zain's existing operations.

Etisalat Reports US$4billion H1 Revenue

UAE-based telecoms operator Etisalat has posted its fiscal results for the six months ended 30 June 2009, recording a 10% year-on-year rise in revenue to AED14.74 billion (USD4.01 billion). Meanwhile, net profit totaled AED4.59 billion for the first half of 2009, down from AED5.05 billion reported in the same period a year earlier, though 2008 results included AED892 million earned from the sale of shares in Saudi cellco Mobily. Excluding this exceptional item, net profit after federal royalty for the six months ended June 2009 was 11% higher than the same period in 2008. Total assets stood at AED67.24 billion at end-June 2009, up 7% year-on-year.

'The growth in revenues achieved will help us expand and develop our national and international business units,' said Mohammed Omran, chairman of Etisalat, adding, 'We have reduced our operational expenditure in the period and have become even more selective in choosing our international investments. We are achieving this by making use of the current financial environment and searching for positive opportunities that arise during these times.'

In terms of subscribers, the company posted a domestic mobile subscriber base of 7.26 million at 30 June 2009, down by 81,000 compared with the end of the first quarter. Domestic fixed line subscribers also fell by 19,000 to 1.33 million during the second quarter of 2009, although Etisalat's internet customer base grew from 1.20 million to 1.23 million in the same period. According to the chairman, Etisalat a worldwide subscriber base of more than 85 million subscribers from a population base of 1.7 billion, and expects customer numbers to reach 100 million in 2010.

Zain Launches Borderless Roaming for Data Services

Mobile operator Zain has launched cross-border data services across the Middle East and East Africa on its One Network platform. The GRX-based data access is provided to Zain customers roaming in other markets where the company is active and provides for data use at the local country rate. The One Network already offers local pricing for voice and SMS, with no charges for incoming calls while roaming on another Zain network.

Customers can also top-up using local country vouchers. The new data services include internet, e-mail, MMS, BlackBerry service and Zain portals, such as the recently launched Zain Create platform.

The Middle East countries that benefit from this data service are Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, while in East Africa the countries are Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

By the end of 2009 all other African One Network countries will join and benefit from this data service. Customers do not have to pre-register for the data access service, move to a special tariff, change their handset settings or pay any subscription fees for One Network. 

Zain Reports 3.3% Rise in Q Profits

Just a couple of days after announcing 2,000 job cuts, Zain has reported a 3.3% rise in first-quarter profits to KWD 75.7 million (US$260.5 million), compared with KWD 73.3 million a year ago. Consolidated revenues jumps by 25% to KWD 567.2 million (US$1.96 billion), an increase of 25% compared to Q1 2008. Profits were held back due to costs associated with the recent launch of networks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Ghana.

The company said that it ended the quarter with 64.7 million customers - a jump of 41% over the year.

Commenting on the results, Zain Group CEO Dr Saad Al Barrak said: "Despite the challenges imposed by the global economic crisis and the competitive markets in which we operate, these impressive first quarter results are testament to the sound management practices of the Group and a reflection of our unwavering commitment to reach our 2011 target of being a top-ten global mobile operator."

Regarding Saudi Arabia and Ghana, Dr Al Barrak commented: “Both operations have performed beyond expectations in attaining impressive customer numbers to date and we expect them to provide healthy fiscal gains in the years to come.”

Dr Al Barrak also confirmed that Zain is working on several fronts to overcome the changes in global markets such as the increasing cost of financing and the sharp volatility of currency rates, pointing out that “Zain was able to achieve realistic results despite the fact that the latter cost the company KWD 18.4 million (US$63.3 million).”