Ooredoo Group reported growth in data revenue and a 13 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit during Q4 2017, partly offsetting the impact of regulation and other factors which hit annual earnings.

Net profit increased to QAR408 million ($112 million) on broadly flat revenue of QAR8.6 billion. Profit for the full year fell 10 per cent to QAR2 billion, with the decline attributed to the impact of new government levies in Oman and one-off factors which inflated its 2016 figure. Revenue of QAR32.7 billion was largely flat on 2016.

Ooredoo reported a boost in data usage across its footprint through 2017, as it continued 4G rollout. By end-December, 4G was available in eight of its ten markets. Data accounted for 46 per cent of total revenue in 2017, up from 40 per cent in 2016. Annual revenue attributed to data increased 16 per cent year-on-year to QAR15.3 billion.

Its customer base was 164 million at the close of the year, up 18 per cent on 2016. The company said subscriber acquisition had been driven by campaigns in Indonesia, Iraq, Oman, Algeria, Tunisia, the Maldives and Palestine.

Ooredoo CEO Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani (pictured) hailed “solid results across the board” adding the company had “continued to streamline our operations and achieved significant savings in 2017, particularly through our focus on centralised purchasing and infrastructure sharing.”

He concluded the company was now a “well monetised data business” while highlighting it was one of the first companies in the world to offer “5G speed experiences” in its home market of Qatar.