Orascom Telecom Q3 profit down on Pak troubles
CAIRO ( 2008-11-18 12:38:06 ) :Orascom Telecom, the largest Arab mobile operator by subscribers, said it made net profit of $90.5 million in the third quarter of 2008, 28 percent down on the same period of 2007 as revenues from its Pakistan operation suffered.
The profit figure was below a $102 million forecast from Cairo investment bank CI Capital. OT did not give a comparative figure but its third-quarter 2007 profit was $125.6 million.
"Most of our businesses, with the exception of Pakistan, continue to perform on target in terms of growth and profitability," chairman Naguib Sawiris said in a statement. "In Pakistan the political, security, financial and economic conditions have been very difficult."
Average revenue per user for Mobilink, its Pakistan subsidiary, dropped 26 percent, hit by the depreciation of the Pakistan rupee against the dollar, the company said.
The company said its revenue for the third quarter was $1.37 billion. It did not give a comparative figure for last year.
Total subscribers reached 79 million by the end of September, up 22 percent from the previous year, the company said.
Copyright Reuters, 2008
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