Mobily quarterly loss down
RIYADH, April 22, 2018
Mobily, a leading telecom provider in Saudi Arabia, has decreased its quarterly losses in Q1 2018 by 49 per cent to SR93 million ($24.84 million) compared to SR182 million in Q4 2017.
This was mainly due to the growth of revenues driven by better mix of products mainly from data, the increase of efficiency in managing the operational expenses, the impact of implementing IFRS 9 and 15 and the reversal of certain provisions that are no longer required, the company said.
Revenues improved for the second consecutive quarter reaching in Q1 2018 SR2,833 million compared to SR2,827 million in Q4 2017,a slight increase of 0.2 per cent, despite the following:
* The impact on sales in the beginning of the year due to the implementation of the Value Added Tax.
* The reduction in interconnection rates by 45%.
* The seasonality of handset sales, and its increase in Q4 2017.
* The seasonality decrease related to the number of days in Q1.
Without the decrease of the interconnection rates, the revenues would have grown by 2 per cent.
Gross profit increased in Q1 2018 by 6.6 per cent to SR1,663 million compared to SR1,560 million in Q4 2017. This increase is mainly due to the reduction in interconnection rates during Q1 2018 compared to the ones of Q4 2017 and the reduction in equipment costs in Q1 2018 compared to Q4 2017.
EBITDA amounted in Q1 2018 to SR1,036 million compared to SR911 million in Q4 2017. EBITDA margin improved to 37 per cent compared to 32 per cent in Q4 2017. This was mainly due to the decrease of interconnection rates, the continuing efforts to increase the company’s operational efficiency, the impact of implementing IFRS 9 and 15 and the reversal of certain provisions that are no longer required.
Mobily managed to decrease its quarterly losses in Q1 2018 by 43 per cent to SR93 million compared to SR163 million in Q1 2017.
Mobily managed to grow its revenues for the second consecutive quarter. Q1 2018 revenues slightly decreased by 1 per cent (SR33 million) to SR2,833 million compared to SR2,865 million in Q1 2017.