Omantel Q4 profit climbs 50pc, beats forecast

Oman Telecommunications Co posted a 50 percent jump in quarterly net profit on Wednesday, beating analysts average expectations.  

The telecoms operator made a profit of 29 million rials ($75.31 million) in the three months ending December 31, according to Reuters calculations, compared with 19.3 million rials in the comparable period one year earlier.  

Analysts polled by Reuters had estimated an average fourth quarter profit of 22.4 million rials.

Omantel's full year profit stood at 112 million rials, down from 125.2 million in 2009, it said in a statement.  

It did not provide quarterly data. Reuters calculated fourth quarter results from previous financial statements. Omantel reported a nine-month profit of 83 million rials to the end of September.

State-controlled Omantel's monopoly on the telecommunications market in Oman was broken in 2006 by Nawras, a unit of Qatar Telecommunications, which listed shares on the exchange in October.

In November, Omantel said it would seek shareholder approval to serve as a guarantor to obtain funding for struggling Pakistani unit Worldcall in which the operator has a 56.8 percent stake.