The FINANCIAL — Oman Telecommunications, or Omantel, the country's biggest telecom operator, on Saturday posted a 25 per cent rise in third-quarter profit to 28 million Omani riyals from a year earlier as the telco added more subscribers.
The third-quarter result compares to the 27.2 million riyals that analysts at Muscat-based Gulf Baader Capital Markets had penciled in. It fell slightly short of the 29 million riyals forecast by Cairo-based investment bank EFG-Hermes. The company's total customer base rose 4.1 per cent to 3.4 million, increasing the telco's market share to 57.3 per cent, Omantel said in an e-mailed statement. Revenue for the three-month period increased 13 per cent year-on-year to 109.9 million riyals, from 97.4 million riyals, said Omantel.
The "Oman mobile network acquired all the total market net additions. This remarkable growth has been achieved through our past investments to improve customer service, enhance network coverage and introduce innovative products to our customers," said Omantel chief executive Amer Bin Awadh Al Rawas in the statementAcwa Power, the Saudi Arabia-based power and water plant developer, yesterday said it closed a $300 million credit facility to support its expansion plans, the first time the company has tapped the international debt market. The lead banks included bookrunners Standard Chartered and Citi, and also Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Mizuho Corporate Bank Nederland, J.P. Morgan Limited and MayBank Berhad. The facility was structured on a Murabaha basis, according to an e-mailed statement.
"We see strong fundamentals for the power and water markets in our region and expect Acwa Power to continue playing a key role in their growth," Philip Southwell, president for the Middle East and North Africa at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said in the statement.Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital secured a $150 million, 10-year financing facility from a US government development finance institution, the company said yesterday.
The funds from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation take Citadel's long-term capital to $325 million, including a recent rights issue, Citadel said. The firm, which focuses on the Middle East and North Africa, reported a net loss for the first half of 2011 and is scaling back investments outside its existing projects until Egypt's political and economic outlook becomes clearer. The country is gearing up for elections after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. The financing "addresses the shortage of credit in Egypt, where investment in important infrastructure sectors has been stymied by political uncertainty", Citadel cited Opic chief executive Elizabeth Littlefield as saying.
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