Half Year 2026 Omani Qatari Telecommunications Co SAOG Earnings Call

August 26, 2026

Speaker #1: السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته. Good afternoon and welcome to our earnings call for the first half-year ended 30 June 2026, and we appreciate your participation.

Speaker #1: My name is Ahmed Al-Hasani, representing Investor Relations Officer at Ooredoo Oman. We are blessed to have you with us today as we review our half-year performance and share updates on our strategic initiatives.

Speaker #1: Joining us today are Mr. Nasser Al-Arabi, our CFO, and Mr. Aws Al-Ghazali. We will take you through our financial performance and key developments for the first half of the year 2026.

Speaker #1: Before we begin, a few necessary disclaimers are in slide number 2. Kindly note that we may share forward-looking statements based on the information available to us as of today.

Speaker #1: Kindly note that our views may change over time, and we are not required to update you if they do. For further details, we encourage you to visit our public disclosure on MSX and our website, Ooredoo Oman.

Speaker #1: With that, I will turn it over to Mr. Nasser Al-Arabi to walk us through the highlights of H1 2026.

Speaker #2: Thanks, Ahmed. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullah. Good afternoon. Firstly I would like to pass to you Saud our CEO regards and unfortunately he is not able to join us today as he is on leave and traveling and I would basically take the take you through the presentation and give you some highlights about our performance Ooredoo Oman performance in quarter 2 as well as actually first half of the year.

Speaker #2: Before we go to the financial performance, I would like to throw some light on the macroeconomic environment in which we are operating. The GDP outlook is fairly positive and the expected growth in 2026 is between 3.5% to 3.7%, with similar results expected for 2027.

Speaker #2: With 2024 or 2040 vision, and special focus on investments in tourism, logistics, manufacturing, and other private sectors in general, Oman is moving with confidence towards a more sustainable, non-oil-dependent economic growth.

Speaker #2: Inflation is rising but remains relatively moderate, and Oman's credit rating as at the end of August is at investment grade with a stable outlook.

Speaker #2: This positive trajectory has been ongoing for a while, and it has improved significantly compared to the situation in 2020, when the debt-to-GDP at that time was around 68%, and currently it's at around 33%.

Speaker #2: The overall economy is also mainly supported by healthy oil prices. The average currently is around $84, and this is actually higher than the price that's set in the budget, which is around $60.

Speaker #2: So this would give Oman a good briefing space and a further positive outlook for the economy. When it comes to Ooredoo, the slide here actually shows the development of our customer base. The customer base in Q2 is stable compared to Q1. We saw growth in the postpaid base versus last year, driven by growth in ICT and IoT, following the company's focus on this particular revenue stream and segment.

Speaker #2: Prepaid, there's a drop and, as highlighted in previous calls, there has been a lot of cleanup and rationalization, and special focus on value-adding customers. This has resulted actually in an improved RPO as well as actually a better prepaid revenue.

Speaker #2: When it comes to the fixed segment, we've seen actually a growth of around 2% compared to the exit quarter, Q2 2025. This is supported by fixed and home broadband growth that's continued to grow, supported by fiber FTTH as well as the wireless home broadband.

Speaker #2: The company has been focusing on superior customer experience and this has been widely recognized by our customers as well as the community Ooredoo Oman managed to bank several awards amongst which is actually this what you can see here is the best brand in customer experience in telco at Oman customer experience award ceremony we have been also able to get actually a recognition from OCLA as the best 5G gaming experience in Oman and this is actually following the significant investments and efforts that the company has made towards actually strengthening the network and strengthening or or creating superior customer experience as well.

Speaker #2: Moving to the financial performance our revenue for quarter 2 has reached around 60.1 million Oman riyal it's slightly lower than quarter 2 2025 and this is impacted by the by lower sales of handsets the good news here is that the service revenue or the core telecom revenue has seen or witnessed actually an improvement and this is actually a strong indication that the company is moving in the right direction it has the service revenue improved by around 0.5% and this is supported by growth of of fixed as well as prepaid and ICT businesses and this trend has been moving slowly positively now and we are actually very optimistic that this will continue in in the coming periods when it comes to EBITDA EBITDA is very healthy and has reached 28 point almost 5 million Oman riyals a growth of around 2.6% compared to the same period last year and this is again supported by very healthy service revenue as well as improvement in gross margin and cost efficiency programs that the company is has followed and shows a great deal of discipline in this area.

Speaker #2: Of course this has cascaded down to the net profit which has reached for the quarter to a number or close to 4 million Oman riyals that's more than double of the net profit that we've been making in in in in previous in previous year and to be more specific it's 123.5% higher than the net profit results that the company achieved in quarter 2 2020 5.

Speaker #2: The company is also committed to strengthening its network, so we are continuing to invest in our 5G, our network capabilities, and digital capabilities, as well as exploring any new areas of revenue, especially in the wholesale and ICT.

Speaker #2: So the quarterly trend that's shown in this particular graph shows that actually there is a drop a slight drop in the revenue between quarter 2 2025 to quarter 2 2026 and again as highlighted previously this is driven mainly by the lower sales of devices and by the way the sales of the devices generally speaking is having a lower margin the good news here is actually the mobile and fixed as well as wholesale that's the conventional revenue contribution overall business is is increasing.

Speaker #2: On the EBITDA front, our EBITDA has improved by 2.6%. That's around 730,000 Omani Riyals year on year. EBITDA has improved, supported by improvement in gross margin, as well as a reduction in operating expenses, following efficiency and optimization programs that the company has engaged in over the last few months.

Speaker #2: Next slide please. All these improvements and all these efforts has translated into very strong net profit improvement and our net profit has reached actually 3.8 million Oman riyal in one quarter and this is when it comes actually to local or compared to the industry as a local operation this is one amongst the the best performing and this is higher than the same period last year by around 2.1 million Oman riyal and of course this is not only supported by by quality revenue and focus on value adding activities and initiatives but also the a great discipline on the capex investments and other initiative that has actually resulted in balanced kind of depreciation and amortization and of course all these things led to significant improvement in in net profit.

Speaker #2: On the capex front, as highlighted previously, we have been investing heavily in our network to improve our customer experience and also to create an infrastructure that supports the increase in demand for data and connectivity. It's currently at around 16%. We saw, basically, an acceleration in the investments in Q2, and we expect that trend to continue in the next quarters, inshallah.

Speaker #2: Next slide. When it comes to simple free cash flow, it indicates, as you can see here, a strong position and a kind of balanced approach between EBITDA generation as well as business expansion needs. The ratios here, when it comes actually to liquidity as well as gearing, you can see clearly that actually the company is maintaining a very strong cash position, and it indicates also a very healthy and efficient control of working capital. That's why we are able to maintain a very strong, healthy, and very strong and healthy balance sheet.

Speaker #2: Next, let me close with a few highlights and stress a few key priorities for the organization for the remainder of 2026, as well as, actually, the future.

Speaker #2: When it comes to the organization, we are committed to deliver basically stronger financial performance following, actually, the number of initiatives that we have taken to optimize our expenses as well as actually push our revenue and get actually new revenue streams that support the financial performance and create sustainable, profitable growth for the organization as well as the shareholders.

Speaker #2: We are also committed when it comes to building our network capabilities expanding our 5G footprint as well as fiber network which are extremely important investments that will cater for the increasing demand for 5G as well as actually supports our strategic direction towards creating superior customer experience and we will also continue to seek efficiencies and create also again experience that is seamless and unique for our for our customers and we are sure that these will lead to strong sustainable again financial performance when it comes to the growth pillar we will be continuing to focus on B2B and strengthening our position in that area and we will deliver the pipeline projects that will ensure and strengthening our capabilities when it comes to creating the growth that means the shareholders expectation on the efficiency front we will be and we are actually doing great deal of efforts when it comes to AI automation and new technologies that deliver efficiencies and optimization and when it comes to investments we are very particular in our investments when it comes to ensuring that we invest in great value-based projects that is supported basically investments that supported by kind of strong data and analytics and facts that are in the in the in the market as well as actually meets our strategic direction in various revenue areas.

Speaker #2: I think with that, we open the floor for any questions. Thank you, Nasser. If you have any questions, please use the right-hand bottom in your app. You can also type your question into the chat box if you prefer. To make sure everyone has a chance to participate, we kindly ask that each person limit themselves to two questions.

Speaker #2: Abbas yes please. Thank you the first question is on the prepaid business of Ooredoo could you reflect on the challenges that you're facing you know in terms of both ARPU and retaining customers and what is the company doing to actually arrest this downside that we've seen in number of customers over the last couple of years and of course the second question is you know your sort of non-voice and non-data revenue the wholesale revenue that you've been speaking about over the last few calls you know what sort of update is there when do you see these opportunities leading to you know good revenue and profitability is there any update you can share in terms of timeline in terms of the size of the opportunity thank you.

Speaker #2: Thanks a lot Abbas. When it comes to prepaid it's not a secret that the market is extremely crowded and there are a lot of operators we've seen a lot of value destroying activities previously the companies has been actually successful this year in maintaining the and even growing the prepaid revenue improving the customers ARPU by focusing on value customers with ensuring that actually we are getting the maximum out of those customers by having the bundles and the products that suits their needs and we are trying to differentiate ourselves by meeting the need of the customers and ensuring that actually we are having superior customer experience at all touch points.

Speaker #2: That is when it comes to prepaid. Now when it comes to wholesale we believe that there is an increase and significant increase in in demand for wholesale either from international connectivities data centers and other areas now we've been investing in building those capabilities and we've been seeing growth in lots of areas of wholesale some of them are double digit and we are actually expecting even more and more growth in this particular area that can beat also the other traditional core telecom revenues in the in the areas of fixed and mobile for example.

Speaker #2: So yes, there are areas of wholesale where we have seen significant growth. Yet, wholesale is not actually the biggest revenue stream, as you saw in one of the slides. However, we are actually giving a great deal of attention, and we see that area improving. We are very optimistic about the investments in this area.

Speaker #2: And the return from those investments as well. Mohammed, if you have any questions, please ask. Good afternoon. Am I audible?

Speaker #2: Yeah, yeah, you can go ahead. Thank you for your presentation and congrats on the results. Two questions from my side. The first is regarding the revenue growth.

Speaker #2: So beyond migrating customers from prepaid to postpaid and relying on further cost efficiencies, what are the actual initiatives that can turn Ooredoo to sustainable top-line growth in terms of revenue?

Speaker #2: So, are you targeting measurable revenue from fintech, payments, AI solutions, digital services, and data centers? And if you can, please quantify which of these businesses you expect will contribute the most to revenue over the next two to three years.

Speaker #2: Okay, thanks a lot. This is Mohammed. Mohammed, thank you very much for the question. When it comes to the revenue of postpaid, or the migration you highlighted from prepaid to postpaid, of course there is merit and logical arguments behind this particular move when it comes to the loyalty of the customers as well as the ARPU improvement.

Speaker #2: The key important focus area when it comes to mobile and ensuring that this this particular revenue stream is sustainable is when it comes to the quality of customers as well as the share of wallet.

Speaker #2: And here in Ooredoo we are working on both areas the the quality of customers ensuring that actually we we focus and invest in in kind of bringing and retaining customers with higher quality who can basically create value as well as actually grow with those customers and ensure that we meet their demand and we get a fair share of of wallet which will result in in ARPU improvement.

Speaker #2: Clear. Now other initiatives other initiatives or other revenue streams we've been highlighting this multiple times that there are multiple initiatives and you've mentioned the the fintech and our partnership with OFT Ooredoo Ooredoo fintech company who are actually the they are having also very interesting products and being very active and being also growing fantastically there are also lots of initiatives in the areas of AI that will not only drive revenue through multiple use cases but also improve efficiency and quality so yes there are also lots of things that are happening currently and we are monitoring what is happening also in the in the ward taking the best practices and the other areas is the wholesale I have highlighted this in my in my presentation as well as my answer that there are lots of work also happening there and there's a massive amount of investments that ensures that actually this particular area is strong and we are ready to meet and beat the expectation of our existing customers and also potential customers both locally and internationally.

Speaker #2: Clear. The second question is regarding the dividends. So, as we all know, you maintained the dividend of around 11.53 baiza per share for 2025, despite very weak profitability.

Speaker #2: With H1 2026 net profit already around $8.3 million, and full year earnings estimated around $17 to $20 million, should shareholders now expect the dividend to increase materially compared to last year?

Speaker #2: Last year, actually, we beat the net profit for the organization; for the full year, it was around 900,000 rials, and we are committed to our shareholders in terms of ensuring that we are giving good dividends. That's what happened last year through the payment of a dividend that's far higher than our net profit.

Speaker #2: Now, what will happen in the area of 2026? All I can say here is I assure you that we are looking at all options and all possibilities with our boards that ensure the maximum return to our shareholders.

Speaker #2: This is actually something which we are, we are, we will be, and you've been doing it previously and we will continue to do it to ensure that we are giving a dividend that is balanced between the shareholders' expectation on the dividend as well as the company's ability to create or to expand and create value through growth and creating sustainable, profitable growth kind of business, which will of course eventually result in a better value for the shareholders.

Speaker #2: Clear. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you, Mr. Amir Ali. Please, if you have a question. Yes. Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you.

Speaker #2: Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. I have a couple of questions. My first question is related to your tower sale business.

Speaker #2: Can you guide us—what is the update on that front? Okay. And your second question? My second question is related to the capex guidance for the second half.

Speaker #1: Fifty million rials—just a clarification, is this fifty million rials expected to be spent in the second half of this financial year for CAPEX? In previous calls you've given CAPEX guidance, so I just wanted to ask, as a percentage of revenue...

Speaker #1: So, can we rely on the previous guidance when it comes to percentage of revenue, when it comes to CAPEX?

Speaker #2: Yes.

Speaker #1: Okay, so even if there's an acceleration, you're still more or less in line with what you've committed before. I think another question I had is: Saud, in his previous call, had mentioned other cost optimization activities that the company is undertaking, without actually specifically talking about which initiatives.

Speaker #1: Now, what is the progress on those kinds of initiatives? Of course, the golden handshake was one big one that you announced to the market.

Ahmed Lahsani: Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Good afternoon, and welcome to our earnings call for H1 ended 30 June 2026. We appreciate your participation. My name is Ahmed Lahsani, representing Investor Relations Officer at Ooredoo Oman. We are blessed to have you with us today as we review our half-year performance and share updates on our strategic initiatives. Joining us today are Mr. Nasser Al Yaarubi, our CFO, and Mr. Aus Al-Ghazali. We will take you through our financial performance and key developments for H1 2026. Before we begin, a few necessary disclaimers are in slide 2. Kindly note that we may share forward-looking statements based on the information available to us as of today. Kindly note that our views may change over time and we are not required to update you if they do.

Ahmed Lahsani: Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Good afternoon, and welcome to our earning call for the H1 ended 30 June 2026. We appreciate your participation. My name is Ahmed Lahsani, representing Investor Relations Officer at Ooredoo Oman. We are blessed to have you with us today as we review our half-year performance and share updates on our strategic initiatives. Joining us today is Mr. Nasser Al Yaarubi, our CFO, and Mr. Aus Al-Ghazali. We will take you through our financial performance and key development for the H1 2026. Before we begin, a few necessary disclaimers in slide 2. Kindly note that we may share forward-looking statements based on the information available of us as of today. Kindly note that our views may change over time and we are not required to update you if they do.

Speaker #1: But when it comes to any other big initiatives, is there anything that you can speak about on this call? And what's the size? I mean, more importantly, what is the size of the savings you're looking at?

Speaker #1: Because these savings tend to be recurring in nature.

Speaker #2: Yes. So, when it comes to the initiatives that we are having here, we are categorizing them into various seven or eight categories.

Speaker #2: And employee cost is only one domain, and there are also other categories where we have lots and lots of initiatives. Now, one key initiative is related to technology and the rationalization of the spend in technology.

Speaker #2: We have multiple contracts, and there are multiple outsourced activities. So we have been optimizing those areas, and we've been able to save millions of human hours.

Ahmed Lahsani: For further details, we encourage you to visit our public disclosure on the Muscat Stock Exchange and our website, Ooredoo Oman. With that, I will turn it over to Mr. Nasser Al Yaarubi to walk us through the highlights of H1 2026.

Ahmed Lahsani: For further details, we encourage you to visit our public disclosure on Muscat Stock Exchange and our website, Ooredoo Oman. With that, I will turn it over to Mr. Nasser Al Yaarubi to walk us through the highlights of H1 2026.

Speaker #2: Now, there is also an increase, or kind of a headwind, that we face in this organization, and without those initiatives, we would have seen a significant increase—not less than 3 or 4 million Omani rials—in technology expenses.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: Thanks, Ahmed. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah. Good afternoon. Firstly, I would like to pass to you Saoud, our CEO's regards. Unfortunately, he is not able to join us today as he is on leave and traveling. I will basically take you through the presentation and give you some highlights about our performance—Ooredoo Oman's performance—in Q2 as well as H1. Before we go to the financial performance, I would like to shed some light on the macroeconomic environment in which we are operating. The GDP outlook is fairly positive, and the expected growth in 2026 is between 3.5% to 3.7%, with similar expected results for 2027.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: Thanks, Ahmed. Asalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah. Good afternoon. Firstly, I would like to pass to you Saoud, our CEO, regards. Unfortunately, he is not able to join us today as he is on leave and traveling. I would basically take you through the presentation and give you some highlights about our performance, Ooredoo Oman performance, in Q2 as well as H1. Before we go to the financial performance, I would like to throw some light on the macroeconomic environment in which we are operating. The GDP outlook is fairly positive, and the expected growth in 2026 is between 3.5% to 3.7%, with similar expected results for 2027.

Speaker #2: But thanks to those initiatives, we managed to face all those headwinds, and we managed to ensure that actually the impact of all those has been managed properly.

Speaker #2: So, in a nutshell, we are having initiatives in all those areas. Probably, yes, the biggest and most significant one was related to the transformation project that touched the structure of the organization.

Speaker #2: However, there are also other initiatives that might not be as obvious as this, but have resulted in absorbing lots of headwinds that they faced in the organization.

Speaker #1: Okay. Okay. And there's no quantifying it going forward, right? In terms of how much more savings we can see going forward?

Speaker #2: As of now, I prefer basically to see and to show you when in the results, and I'm confident that, going forward, inshallah, we will see those initiatives materializing, some of which actually have even exceeded our expectations.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: With Oman Vision 2040 and a special focus on investments in tourism, logistics, manufacturing, and other private sectors in general, Oman is moving with confidence towards a more sustainable, non-oil dependent economic growth. The inflation is rising, but still relatively moderate. Oman credit rating as at the end of August is at investment grade and the outlook is stable. This positive trajectory has been now for a while, and it has improved significantly compared to the situation in 2020, where the debt to GDP at that time was around 68%, and currently it is at around 33%. The overall economic also that is mainly supported by healthy price of oil. The average currently is around OMR 84, and this is higher than the price that is set in the budget of around OMR 60. So this would give Oman a good breathing space and a further positive outlook for the economy.

Speaker #2: So yes, I'm very optimistic that they will be translated, and we will be able to see them in our future results, inshallah.

Speaker #1: So, what is the guidance or number of days for receivables and payables? Because, of course, cash flow is something we track very, very closely. When it comes to Ooredoo, I think, in my mind, it is the cheapest company in Oman when it comes to FCFE.

Speaker #1: And I don't know how the market is not appreciating this. Maybe the market wants to see the actual dividend-paying capacity and not just cash flows.

Speaker #1: But I guess I don't know. Only time will tell. But just to check, what's the guidance or number of days for receivables and payables which we can model, and then try and estimate the FCFE in the future?

Speaker #2: Yeah, I don't have the numbers in front of me right now. However, when it comes to the working capital, and the significant improvement we have seen in lots of areas—when it comes to controlling receivables as well as actually improving also the payables—there have been significant improvements in lots of divisions of receivables.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: The overall economic also that is mainly supported by healthy price of oil. The average currently is around OMR 84, and this is higher than the price that is set in the budget of around OMR 60. So this would give Oman a good breathing space and a further positive outlook for the economy.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: When it comes to Ooredoo, the slide here shows the development of our customer base. Customer base in Q2 is stable compared to Q1. We saw growth in the postpaid base versus last year, driven by growth in ICT and IoT, following the company's focus on this particular revenue stream and segment. Prepaid, there is a drop, and as highlighted in previous calls, there has been a lot of cleanup and rationalization, and special focus on value-adding customers. This has resulted in an improved ARPU as well as better prepaid revenue. When it comes to the fixed segment, we have seen growth of around 2% compared to the exit Q2 2025. This is supported by fixed and home broadband growth that has continued to grow, supported by fiber FTTH as well as wireless home broadband.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: When it comes to Ooredoo, the slide here shows the development of our customer base. Customer base in Q2 is stable compared to Q1. We saw growth in the post-paid base versus last year, driven by growth in ICT and IoT, following the company's focus on this particular revenue stream and segment. Prepaid, there is a drop, and as highlighted in previous calls, there has been a lot of cleanup and rationalization and special focus on value-adding customers. This has resulted in an improved ARPU as well as a better prepaid revenue. When it comes to the fixed segment, we have seen a growth of around 2% compared to the exit Q2 2025. This is supported by fixed and home broadband growth that is continued to grow, supported by fiber FTTH as well as the wireless home broadband.

Speaker #2: And this has actually been translating into the bad debt provision and eventually into the EBITDA in that particular domain. And this is one of the initiatives that, to answer also—I think—was raised by Rashid.

Speaker #2: Towards optimizing our expenses. And, of course, it has resulted—and is so obvious—in our bad debt provision reduction.

Speaker #1: Yeah, no, I was just reflecting on your receivables going up. Why at the same time, even from the end of last year? So is it something just one-off in nature, which is because the balance sheet is obviously as of a certain date?

Speaker #1: So, I just wanted to—I was just wondering, in terms of receivables, what's happening? Just a small increase.

Speaker #2: There has also been a shift in the business from a prepaid kind of nature to postpaid. And with the growth of wholesale and some other areas in ICT and fixed, which by their nature are actually more postpaid.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: The company has been focusing on superior customer experience, and this has been widely recognized by our customers as well as the community. Ooredoo Oman managed to bank several awards, among which is this one that you can see here: the Best Brand in Customer Experience in Telco at the Oman CX Awards ceremony. We have also been able to get recognition from Ookla as the Best 5G Gaming Experience in Oman, and this is following the significant investments and efforts that the company has made towards strengthening the network and creating superior customer experience as well. Moving to the financial performance, our revenue for Q2 has reached around OMR 60.1 million. It is slightly lower than Q2 2025, and this is impacted by lower sales of handsets.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: The company has been focusing on superior customer experience, and this has been widely recognized by our customers as well as the community. Ooredoo Oman managed to bank several awards, amongst which is this, that you can see here is the best brand in customer experience in telco at Oman CX Awards ceremony. We have been also able to get a recognition from Ookla as the best 5G gaming experience in Oman, and this is following the significant investments and efforts that the company has made towards strengthening the network and strengthening or creating superior customer experience as well. Moving to the financial performance. Our revenue for Q2 has reached around OMR 60.1 million. It is slightly lower than Q2 2025, and this is impacted by lower sales of handsets.

Speaker #2: This has contributed to the fact that you have mentioned.

Speaker #1: So that makes sense. Okay. And in terms of the provisioning and the impairment, I saw there was a big improvement last year, so congratulations on that.

Speaker #1: And yeah, I think all in all, the company looks in a very interesting position compared to its past history. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress.

Speaker #1: And thank you very much for the call. Good luck with the rest of the year.

Speaker #2: Thank you for your words. Thank you.

Speaker #3: Thank you, Abbas. Does anyone have any further questions?

Nasser Al Yaarubi: The good news here is that the service revenue, or the core telecom revenue, has seen or witnessed an improvement, and this is a strong indication that the company is moving in the right direction. The service revenue improved by around 0.5%, and this is supported by growth in fixed, as well as prepaid and ICT businesses. This trend has been moving slowly, but positively now, and we are very optimistic that this will continue in the coming periods. When it comes to EBITDA, it is very healthy, and has reached OMR 28.5 million, a growth of around 2.6% compared to the same period last year. This is again supported by very healthy service revenue, as well as improvement in gross margin and cost-efficiency programs that the company has followed, and shows a great deal of discipline in this area.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: The good news here is that the service revenue or the core telecom revenue has seen or witnessed an improvement, and this is a strong indication that the company is moving in the right direction. The service revenue improved by around 0.5%, and this is supported by growth of fixed as well as prepaid and ICT businesses. This trend has been moving slowly, positively now, and we are very optimistic that this will continue in the coming periods. When it comes to EBITDA is very healthy, and has reached OMR 28.5 million, a growth of around 2.6% compared to the same period last year. This is again supported by very healthy service revenue as well as improvement in gross margin and cost efficiency programs that the company has followed and shows a great deal of discipline in this area.

Speaker #1: Hi, good afternoon. Am I audible? Yes. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation and the opportunity. I just have one question—it's sort of a follow-up from what my colleagues have been asking about the cash flows of the company.

Speaker #1: We have actually seen your transformation measures, or efforts, materialize this year. We have seen a reduction in employee costs, and then obviously on the royalty front as well.

Speaker #1: So, the number that was quoted in the announcements was close to 8 million. And, from the numbers that we are seeing, I think it might be achievable.

Speaker #1: So, 8 million from there and an additional 2 to 4 million from the royalty savings amounts to an additional 10 to 12 million of savings or cash flows that the company would be able to achieve from this year onwards.

Speaker #1: Obviously, assuming everything else remains constant. So, in light of the additional capex requirements now, in our projections, should we expect Ooredoo's dividend policy to continue?

Nasser Al Yaarubi: Of course, this has cascaded down to the net profit, which has reached for the quarter to a number or close to OMR 4 million. That is more than double of the net profit that we have been making in previous year. To be more specific, it is 123.5% higher than the net profit results that the company achieved in Q2 2025. The company is also committed towards strengthening its network. So we are continuing to invest in our 5G, our network capabilities and digital capabilities, as well as any new areas of revenue, especially in the wholesale and ICT. The quarterly trend that is shown in this particular graph shows that there is a slight drop in the revenue between Q2 2025 to Q2 2026. Again, as highlighted previously, this is driven mainly by the lower sales of devices.

Speaker #1: Because the company has been fairly consistent in paying out close to 70 to 75 percent of the earnings as dividends, should we expect the current policy to continue?

Speaker #1: And by extension, obviously, with cost savings, the absolute dividend might go up. Or is the additional cash flows are the additional cash flows or cost saving retained for the capital expenditure that is projected?

Speaker #1: Thank you.

Speaker #2: There is a high possibility—I don't want to say it, but since there's actually lots of interest in this area, there's a high possibility to pay a bigger dividend.

Speaker #2: We don't know yet, because at the end of the day, this is actually a decision that we will be discussing with the board and balancing between the company's need for cash to expand its operations, as well as the sources of funds that we currently have and what we are also planning for in the future.

Speaker #2: So all these things, and all these developments, will definitely affect the final decision on how much dividend and what the payout will be for the shareholders.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: The sales of the devices, generally speaking, are having a lower margin. The good news here is actually the mobile and fixed, as well as the wholesale—that is, the conventional revenue contribution to the overall business—is increasing. On the EBITDA front, our EBITDA has improved by 2.6%, which is around OMR 730,000. Year-on-year, EBITDA has improved, supported by improvement in gross margin as well as a reduction in operating expenses, following, again, efficiency and optimization programs that the company has engaged in over the last few months. Next slide, please. All these improvements and efforts have translated into a very strong net profit improvement. Our net profit has reached OMR 3.8 million in one quarter.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: The sales of the devices, generally speaking, is having a lower margin. The good news here is actually the mobile and fixed as well as the wholesale, that is the conventional revenue contribution overall business is increasing. On the EBITDA front, our EBITDA has improved by 2.6%. That is around OMR 730,000. Year-on-year EBITDA has improved, supported by improvement in gross margin as well as reduction operating expenses following, again, efficiency and optimization programs that the company has engaged in the last few months. Next slide, please. All these improvements and all these efforts has translated into very strong net profit improvement. Our net profit has reached actually OMR 3.8 million in one quarter.

Speaker #2: And of course, this sort of discussion does not happen right now, but it will happen towards the end of the financial year.

Speaker #1: Perfect. Thank you. Thank you very much. Another question, if you allow. I just wanted to get a feel for the domestic telecommunications market. We have seen that the growth is very limited here.

Speaker #1: And obviously, you guys are expanding into other technology verticals. But how has the progress been on that? So, how has Ooredoo been doing on fronts other than the telecommunication market?

Speaker #1: How have the profit contributions and revenue contributions from that front been currently? And what do you expect in addition to the telecom business?

Speaker #1: What do you expect Ooredoo's stronghold to be in the coming years?

Speaker #2: Yeah. Currently, the majority of our revenue is coming from the core telecommunications, and to put it in simple language, we are currently at the growth stage when it comes to the other revenue streams.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: This is when it comes actually to local or compared to the industry as a local operation, this is one amongst the best performing, and this is higher than the same period last year by around OMR 2.1 million. Of course, this is not only supported by quality revenue and focus on value-adding activities and initiatives, but also a great discipline on the CapEx investments and other initiatives that has actually resulted in a balanced kind of depreciation and amortization. Of course, all these things led to significant improvement in net profit. On the CapEx front, as highlighted previously, we have been investing heavily on our network, to improve our customer experience and also to create an infrastructure that supports the increasing in demand for data and connectivity. It is currently at around 16%.

Speaker #2: So, they are not representing us rightly talking now. It’s a significant chunk of our business. However, they represent a very good chunk of our attention and the capital investments, because we believe there’s a massive opportunity over there.

Speaker #2: And as I have highlighted, previously, that actually we are giving a great deal of attention and investments in various areas that we expect them to generate a kind of revenue or help us to create sustainable profitable growth.

Speaker #2: But as of now, the majority of our revenue is actually coming from the core, or traditional, or conventional—if you want to call them—telco services.

Speaker #1: Great. Thank you for the answers. Let's hope for a wonderful future, and thank you. That's all from my side.

Speaker #2: Thanks a lot.

Speaker #3: Any further questions? Thank you all for joining today's call for additional updates and disclosures. You may visit our disclosure on the MSX and Ooredoo websites.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: We saw basically an acceleration in the investments in Q2, and we expect that trend to continue in the next quarters, Inshallah. Next slide. The balance. When it comes to simple free cash flow, it indicates, as you can see here, a strong position and a kind of balanced approach between EBITDA generation as well as business expansion needs. The ratios here, when it comes to liquidity as well as gearing, you can see clearly that the company is maintaining a very strong cash position and it indicates also a very healthy and efficient control of working capital. That is why we are able to maintain a very strong and healthy balance sheet. Next. Let me close with a few highlights and stress a few key priorities for the organization for the remainder of 2026, as well as the future.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: We saw basically an acceleration in the investments in Q2, and we expect that trend to continue in the next quarters, Inshallah. Next slide. The balance. When it comes to a simple free cash flow, it indicates, as you can see here, strong position and a kind of balanced approach between EBITDA generation as well as business expansion needs. The ratios here, when it comes actually to liquidity as well as gearing, you can see clearly that actually the company is maintaining a very strong cash position and it indicates also a very healthy and efficient control of working capital. That is why we are able to maintain very strong and healthy balance sheet. Next. Let me close with a few highlights and stress few key priorities for the organization for the remainder of 2026 as well as actually the future.

Speaker #3: Also, you can install our investor relations app by scanning a QR code. If you have any additional questions, you can reach out to our investor relations department anytime.

Speaker #3: Meanwhile, thank you for joining today and for your interest in Ooredoo Oman. Have a great day. Thank you.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: When it comes to the organization, we are committed to deliver basically stronger financial performance, following actually the number of initiatives that we have taken to optimize our expenses as well as actually push our revenue and get actually new revenue streams that supports the financial performance and creates sustainable, profitable growth for the organization as well as the shareholders. We are also committed when it comes to building our network capabilities, expanding our 5G footprint as well as fiber network, which are extremely important investments that will cater for the increasing demand for 5G as well as actually supports our strategic direction towards creating superior customer experience. We will also continue to seek efficiencies and create also, again, experience that is seamless and unique for our customers. We are sure that this will lead to strong, sustainable, again, financial performance.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: When it comes to the growth pillar, we will be continuing to focus on B2B and strengthening our position in that area. We will deliver the pipeline projects that will ensure and strengthen our capabilities when it comes to creating the growth that meets the shareholders' expectation. On the efficiency front, we will be, and we are actually doing a great deal of efforts when it comes to AI, automation, and new technologies that deliver efficiencies and optimization. When it comes to investments, we are very particular in our investments when it comes to ensuring that we invest in great value-based projects that is supported, basically investments that are supported by kind of strong data and analytics and facts that are in the market as well as actually meets our strategic direction in various revenue areas. I think with that, we open the floor for any question.

Ahmed Lahsani: Thank you, Nasser. If you have any questions, please use the raise hand button in your app. You can also type your question into the chat box if you prefer. To make sure everyone has a chance to participate, we kindly ask that each person limit themselves to two questions. Abbas, yes, please.

Ahmed Lahsani: Thank you, Nasser. If you have any question, please use the raise hand button in your app. You can also type your question into the chat box if you prefer. To make sure everyone has a chance to participate, we kindly ask that each person limit themselves to two questions. Abbas, yes, please.

[Analyst]: Thank you. The first question is on the prepaid business of Ooredoo. Could you reflect on the challenges that you are facing in terms of both ARPU and retaining customers, and what is the company doing to actually arrest this downside that we have seen in the number of customers over the last couple of years? Of course, the second question is: your sort of non-voice and non-data revenue—the wholesale revenue that you have been speaking about over the last few calls—what sort of update is there? When do you see these opportunities leading to good revenue and profitability? Is there any update you can share in terms of timeline, or in terms of the size of the opportunity? Thank you.

Abbas Thadha: Thank you. The first question is on the prepaid business of Ooredoo. Could you reflect on the challenges that you are facing in terms of both ARPU and retaining customers, and what is the company doing to actually arrest this downside that we have seen in number of customers over the last couple of years? Of course, the second question is, your sort of non-voice and non-data revenue, the wholesale revenue that you have been speaking about over the last few calls, what sort of update is there? When do you see these opportunities leading to good revenue and profitability? Is there any update you can share in terms of timeline, in terms of the size of the opportunity? Thank you.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: Thanks a lot, Abbas. When it comes to prepaid, it is not a secret that the market is extremely crowded and there are a lot of operators. We have seen a lot of value destroying activities previously. The company has been actually successful this year in maintaining and even growing the prepaid revenue, improving the customer's ARPU by focusing on value customers with ensuring that actually we are getting the maximum out of these customers by having the bundles and the products that suits their needs. We are trying to differentiate ourselves by meeting the need of the customers and ensuring that actually we are having superior customer experience at all touchpoints. That is when it comes to prepaid. Now, when it comes to wholesale, we believe that there is an increase and significant increase in demand for wholesale, either from international connectivities, data centers, and other areas.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: Now, we have been investing in building those capabilities, and we have been seeing growth in lots of areas of wholesale. Some of them are double digits, and we are actually expecting even more and more growth in this particular area that can beat also the other traditional core telecom revenues in the areas of fixed and mobile, for example. Yes, there are areas of wholesale where we have seen significant growth. Yet wholesale is not actually the biggest revenue stream, as you saw in one of the slides. However, we are actually giving a great deal of attention, and we see that area improving. We are very optimistic about the investments in this area and the return from those investments as well. Mohammed, if you have any questions, please ask.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: Now, we have been investing in building those capabilities, and we have been seeing growth in lots of areas of wholesale. Some of them are double digits, and we are actually expecting even more and more growth in this particular area that can beat also the other traditional core telecom revenues in the areas of fixed and mobile, for example. Yes, there are areas of wholesale where we have seen a significant growth. Yet the wholesale is not actually the biggest revenue stream, as you saw in one of the slides. However, we are actually giving a great deal of attention, and we see that area improving. We are very optimistic about the investments in this area and the return from those investments as well. Mohammed, if you have any question, please ask.

[Analyst 1]: Good afternoon. Am I audible?

Mohammed Al-Kalbani: Good afternoon. Am I audible?

Nasser Al Yaarubi: Yeah. You can go ahead.

[Analyst 1]: Thank you for your presentation, and congratulations on the results. Two questions from my side. The first is regarding revenue growth. Beyond migrating customers from prepaid to postpaid and relying on further cost efficiencies, what are the actual initiatives that can turn Ooredoo towards sustainable top-line growth in terms of revenue? Are you targeting measurable revenue from fintech payments, AI solutions, digital services, or data centers? If you can, please quantify which of these businesses you expect will contribute the most to revenue over the next two to three years.

Mohammed Al-Kalbani: Thank you for your presentation, and congrats on the results. Two questions from my side. The first is regarding the revenue growth. Beyond migrating customers from prepaid to postpaid and relying on further cost efficiencies, what are the actual initiatives that can turn Ooredoo to sustainable top-line growth in terms of revenue? Are you targeting measurable revenue from fintech payments, AI solutions, digital services, data centers? If you can, please quantify which of these businesses do you expect that will contribute the most to the revenue over the next two to three years?

Nasser Al Yaarubi: Okay. Thanks a lot. Mohammed, thank you very much for the question. When it comes to the revenue of postpaid or the migration you highlighted from prepaid to postpaid, of course, there is a merit and logical arguments behind this particular move when it comes to the loyalty of the customers as well as the ARPU improvement. The key important focus area, when it comes to mobile and ensuring that this particular revenue stream is sustainable, is when it comes to the quality of customers as well as the share of wallet. Here in Ooredoo, we are working on both areas.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: The quality of customers, ensuring that we focus and invest in bringing and retaining customers with higher quality, who can basically create value, as well as grow with those customers and ensure that we meet their demand and we get a fair share of wallet, which will result in ARPU improvement.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: The quality of customers, ensuring that we focus and invest in bringing and retaining customers with higher quality who can basically create value, as well as grow with those customers and ensure that we meet their demand and we get a fair share of wallet, which will result in ARPU improvement.

[Analyst 1]: Clear. Yeah.

Mohammed Al-Kalbani: Clear. Yeah.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: Other initiatives or other revenue streams, we have been highlighting this multiple times, that there are multiple initiatives, and you have mentioned the fintech and our partnership with Ooredoo Fintech, Oman. Ooredoo Fintech company, they are having also very interesting products and being very active and being also growing fantastically. There are also lots of initiatives in the areas of AI that will not only drive revenue through multiple use cases, but also improve efficiency and quality. Yes, there are also lots of things that are happening currently, and we are monitoring what is happening also in the world, taking the best practices. The other area is the wholesale.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: I have highlighted this in my presentation as well as my answer, that there is a lot of work also happening there, and there is a massive amount of investment that ensures that actually this particular area is strong and we are ready to meet and beat the expectations of our existing customers, and also potential customers, both locally and internationally.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: I have highlighted this in my presentation as well as my answer, that there are lots of work also happening there, and there is a massive amount of investments that ensures that actually this particular area is strong and we are ready to meet and beat the expectation of our existing customers and also potential customers, both locally and internationally.

[Analyst 1]: Clear. The second question is regarding the dividends. As we all know, you maintained the dividend of around 11.53 baisa per share for 2025, despite very weak profitability. With H1 2026 net profit already around OMR 8.3 million, and full-year earnings estimated around OMR 17 to 20 million, could shareholders now expect the dividend to increase materially compared to last year?

Mohammed Al-Kalbani: Clear. The second question is regarding the dividends. As we all know, you maintain the dividend of around 11.53 basis per share for 2025, despite very weak profitability. With H1 2026 net profit already around OMR 8.3 million and full-year earnings estimated around OMR 17 to 20 million, could shareholders now expect the dividend to increase materially compared to the last year?

Nasser Al Yaarubi: Last year, actually, we paid the net profit for the organization. For the full year, it was around OMR 900,000. We are committed to our shareholders in terms of ensuring that we are giving good dividends. That's what happened last year, through payment of a dividend that's far higher than our net profit. Now, what will happen in the FY 2026? All I can say here is, I assure you that we are looking at all options and all possibilities with our board that ensure the maximum return to our shareholders.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: Last year, actually, we paid the net profit for the organization. For the full year, it was around OMR 900,000. We are committed to our shareholders in terms of ensuring that we are giving good dividends. That's what happened last year through payment of dividend that's far higher than our net profit. Now, what will happen in the AF 2026? All I can say here is I assure you that we are looking at all options and all possibilities with our boards that ensures the maximum return to our shareholders.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: This is actually something which we will be—and we've been doing it previously, and we will continue to do it—to ensure that we are giving a dividend that is balanced between the shareholders' expectation on the dividend, as well as the company's ability to create or to expand and create value through growth and creating sustainable, profitable growth kind of business, which will, of course, eventually result in a better value for the shareholders.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: This is actually something which we will be, and we've been doing it previously, and we will continue to do it to ensure that we are giving a dividend that is balanced between the shareholders' expectation on the dividend, as well as the company's ability to create or to expand and create value through growth and creating sustainable, profitable growth kind of business, which will, of course, eventually result in a better value for the shareholders.

[Analyst 1]: Yeah. Thank you.

Mohammed Al-Kalbani: Yeah. Thank you.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: Welcome.

Ahmed Lahsani: Thank you. Mr. Amir Ali, please, if you have a question.

[Analyst 2]: Yes. Can you hear me?

Amir Ali: Yes. Can you hear me?

Ahmed Lahsani: Yes, we can hear you.

[Analyst 2]: Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. I have a couple of questions. My first question is related to your tower sale business. Can you guide us on what is the update on that front?

Amir Ali: Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. I have a couple of questions. My first question is related to your tower sale business. Can you guide us what is the update on that front?

Ahmed Lahsani: Okay, your second question.

Nasser Al Yaarubi: Okay, your second question.

[Analyst 2]: My second question is related to the CapEx guide for H2 2026 and 2027. If you can also tell us the breakup, like—

Amir Ali: My second question is related to the CapEx guide for H2 2026 and 2027. If you can also tell us the breakup, like-

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Half Year 2026 Omani Qatari Telecommunications Co SAOG Earnings Call

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