Vodafone Qatar net loss narrows as customer base grows

Vodafone Qatar, an affiliate of Vodafone Group, reported a narrowing third-quarter loss on Thursday, Reuters calculations show, helped by a growth in its customer base.

Vodafone, which ended Ooredoo’s domestic monopoly in 2009, made a net loss of 53.2 million riyals ($14.61 million)in the three months to Dec. 31, Reuters calculated based on nine-month figures provided by the company. That compares with a loss of 87.1 million riyals in the prior-year period. The operator’s financial year starts April 1.

Analysts polled by Reuters on average forecast Vodafone Qatar would make a quarterly loss of 72.7 million riyals.

The company reported a nine-month net loss of 213 million riyals compared with a loss of 325 million riyals in the prior-year period.

Vodafone Qatar - 23 percent owned by parent Vodafone - had 1.27 million mobile customers as of Dec. 31, up 27 percent from a year earlier.

Total revenue for the nine months to Dec 31 was 1.43 billion riyals, a 31 percent growth over the same period last year, the company statement said.

The nine-month average revenue per user (ARPU), a key industry metric, was 125 riyals, up 3.6 percent year-on-year.