Omantel, the leading provider of integrated telecommunications services in the Sultanate, hosted an investor conference recently with the objective of discussing the company’s business prospects with investor communities. The Omantel Investor Conference, organised in cooperation with Gulf Baader Capital Markets (GBCM), was held at Kempinski Hotel, Al Mouj Muscat.
In his presentation to the investors, the Omantel chief executive highlighted the company’s future strategy to create growth opportunities and deal with the changing and challenging telecom environment, in addition to updates on the recent acquisition of a strategic stake in Zain Group and the underlying potential commercial and operational synergies opportunities between the two operators. The Omantel CEO updated the audience on the steps taken by Omantel to maintain its leadership and create long-term value for its shareholders. The event was also a platform for networking, innovation showcasing and knowledge sharing.
Talal Said Marhoon Al Mamari, CEO of Omantel, said, “We were pleased to host this investor conference. The purpose of the meeting was to deliberate on the company’s business prospects with investor communities. We were able to showcase Omantel’s market characteristics and growth opportunities, as well as sector updates."
"The conference provided an effective engagement with key stakeholders, especially on the post-acquisition of Zain Group and how it is transforming Omantel from a single country incumbent into a major Middle East and North Africa (Mena) operator,” he added.
“During the meet, we were able to outline the company’s various on-going strategic and operational plans and recent Omantel initiatives to diversify its revenue such as the Zain acquisition, establishment of a dedicated information and communication technology (ICT) unit to capitalise on the available business opportunities, in addition to the expansion of the Omantel wholesale and international businesses," he said.
"Omantel made investments in areas that have growth potential, where we have strategic advantages that will allow us to excel, take for instance, the investments in the submarine cable systems. With active participation from the conference attendees, the investor conference produced unique insights into the opportunities and challenges. Omantel will continue to empower the digital society to flourish, allowing new ways of doing business and delivering an enhanced customer experience, leveraging on Zain expertise in these areas,” he added.
The conference began with a presentation on Omantel’s growth through international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to safeguard and enhance long-term shareholder value. The presentation highlighted Omantel’s recent acquisition of Zain shares, bringing control to the Zain group.
Elucidating how the Zain association is impacting overall business, the presentation illustrated how the transformational transaction propelled Omantel and Zain into a new era, bringing together a unique portfolio of leading telecom operations with balanced features between profitability and growth potential. The transaction is expected to bring together economies of scale and sizable synergies, making the new group more agile and efficient.
The second session of the conference included a presentation on sector challenges and opportunities. The presentation evaluated how Omani telecom market dynamics were changing substantially, with core telecom markets gradually saturating and competitive pressure increasing. The session reiterated the need for Omantel to boldly react to the market dynamics to safeguard its position and grab growing opportunities, encapsulated in the Omantel Corporate Strategy 3.0.
The session also highlighted the way in which Oman has become a key regional hub with access to 20 submarine cable systems, which supported Omantel to grow revenues despite increasing competition in the domestic market. It revealed how Omantel successfully used its cable landing stations to transform Oman into a major regional content hub supporting over 40 operators in the region and beyond. The session concluded, emphasising the importance of the international diversification and various initiatives by the management to create and sustain the foundation for long-term shareholder value.
The conference concluded by emphasising the need for Omantel to diversify revenue streams through international investment and to implement the initiatives proposed by the management to create and sustain long-term shareholder value, taking into consideration the current economic environment that offers better growth potential for large entities with expanded and diversified geographical operations.