Page 20 - SAMENA Trends - February 2020

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Batelco Reports 3% Rise in 2019 Full-Year Net Profit

Bahraini telecoms group Batelco has announced its financial
results for the full year ended 31 December 2019, reporting a
3% year-on-year rise in net profit to BHD51.6 million (USD136
million), driven by a 4% increase in operating profit to BHD75.5
million and a BHD28.4 million gain on the sale of Qualitynet in
May 2019. Gross revenue fell 1% year-on-year to BHD401.5
million and full-year 2019 EBITDA also dropped 1% from
BHD142.8 million to BHD141.7 million, impacted by the BHD11.1
million cost of a voluntary employee retirement program, without
which adjusted EBITDA would have been 7% higher year-on-year,
thanks to a 5% reduction in operating expenses compared with
2018. The company notes it retains a ‘healthy’ EBITDA margin of
35%. The group reported its total subscriber base fell 2% to 8.4
million at the end of 2019 compared with 8.6 million the previous
year. International operations accounted for 56% of the group’s
total revenues in 2019, down from 59% in 2018, while revenues
in the group’s domestic market of Bahrain increased 5% year-
on-year, thanks to the performance of its fixed broadband, data
communications and mobile services businesses. Batelco
Chairman Sheikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said: ‘I am pleased
to announce strong financial results which is a result of effective
implementation of strategic initiatives, robust operational
performance and solid financial discipline.’

Batelco Launches ‘SmartConnect’ Service with SD-WAN 2.0 Technology

Batelco, the leading digital solutions provider in the Kingdom said, “We are delighted to announce the launch of ‘SmartConnect’,
announced the launch of its ‘SmartConnect’ service on SD-WAN which will allow enterprise customers to have comprehensive
2.0 technology, with the aim of supporting cloud connectivity, control over their networks, and efficiently carry out their business
automation and digital transformation services for Batelco’s with improved capability. We are extremely proud to be the first to
Bahrain based and international enterprise customers. Batelco launch this service in the Kingdom. The launch of ‘SmartConnect’
will complement its existing business services by providing is in line with our digitization strategy to position the Company
customers with simplified management of, and dynamic support as a leader in providing digital communication solutions in the
for, traditional connectivity, cloud and IoT applications. This Kingdom of Bahrain and the region. We reaffirm our commitment
development follows the signing of an agreement between to provide our customers with the latest technologies and
Batelco and Nokia during GITEX last year. Batelco is the first in the to continue contributing towards the development of the
Kingdom to offer the SD-WAN 2.0 ‘SmartConnect’ service as part telecommunications sector in the Kingdom in support of the
of its digital business strategy, where SD-WAN 2.0 technology can growth of the digital economy.”
use software-defined networks (SDN) over any type of wide area
network (WAN). Batelco customers can enjoy advanced control
over their network, allowing network traffic segmentation where
data transmissions can be prioritized on reliable pathways and
less-critical traffic routed to public internet connections. With the
new service, Batelco’s enterprise customers can also reduce their
IT admin costs by managing their corporate networks, including
branches, data centres and the public cloud, using one unified
dashboard. The dashboard will support customers managing
key functionalities, such as user access, security as well as
quality and performance parameters, across the network. This
service will support Batelco’s digital transformation strategy for
customers across various sectors such as banking, healthcare,
education, hospitality, transportation and energy. Speaking on the
occasion, Batelco GM Enterprise Division, Abderrahmane Mounir

20 FEBRUARY 2020