Telecompaper

Egypt's Orascom Telecom net profit rose to USD 180.9 million In Q3 2009 compared to USD 90.5 million in Q3 2008. The firm reported revenues of USD 1.29 billion for the quarter, with EBITDA up to USD 578 million. Net income for the full 9-month period to end-September was USD 365 million, up 5.5 percent on a year. The total subscriber base reached 89 million, an increase of 12.1 percent over September 2008. Third quarter revenues performance improved over the previous quarter in all major subsidiaries, with the exception of Pakistan where a slight devaluation of the currency and Ramadan negatively impacted revenues. The third quarter was particularly strong in Tunisia, with revenues up 13.9 percent over Q2 09, and was also positive in Egypt and Bangladesh with single digit increases over the previous quarter. In OTA, revenues were flat over the previous quarter mainly as a result of increased competition and slower subscriber growth. In the first nine months of 2009 Orascom Telecom continued to grow its customer base approaching the 89 million subscribers mark, a 12.1 percent growth over the same period of the previous year. Growth was particularly strong in Egypt, up more than 30 percent, in Bangladesh, up almost 20 percent, and in Tunisia, up almost 16 percent. In Pakistan overall subscriber growth was 4 percent lower than the previous year as a result of the substantial inactive customer base clean-up performed up to Q1 2009; since then growth has resumed and in the six month period spanning Q2 and Q3 2009 Mobilink achieved over 1.8 million net additions. Growth in Algeria remained positive in Q3 2009 with a 2 percent growth over the same period of 2008. A significant contribution to customer base growth was also delivered by Telecel Globe, with subscribers rapidly approaching the 1.5 million mark, and North Korea based koryolink which counts over 69,000 subscribers as of 30 September.