DOHA: Vodafone Qatar has announced a revenue of QR32.9m for the six months to September 30, of which QR22.2m was earned in the month of September itself.

Vodafone announced an EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) loss of QR156.2m in the first half (H1) of the year. In October, Vodafone’s customer base stood at 250,000, with its Red prepaid customers reaching over 112,615.

Grahame Maher, Vodafone Qatar’s chief executive officer, said due to their global buying power and low cost structure locally, they were able to build “an extremely efficient operating model.”

“This model has contributed to ensuring we are on target to deliver against our annual budget, with an EBITDA loss of QR156.2m in the half-year to 30 September… We were incorporated as a company on June 22, 2008, and since then we have incurred operational and capital expenditure setup costs that are required for our future customer growth over the next 10 years. The financial results are in line with our annual budget and the targets outlined in our business plan and IPO prospectus,” said Maher. Maher said it was explained in the IPO prospectus that they expect to be EBITDA positive in the year ending March 31, 2011 and dependent on the needs of the business.

“We expect to be able to pay dividends following the year ended March 31, 2013, when we will be cash flow positive on a cumulative basis. The results of our first three months of customer operation give me comfort in confirming these previous forecasts.”

Vodafone concluded a successful IPO in April which was fully subscribed. In June, the company welcomed 15,000 shareholders as customers.

On July 7, Vodafone officially launched its Freedom account plans to the public and introduced value plans.

It opened its first retail store on July 13 with eight Vodafone stores now open located throughout the country. On September 9, Vodafone launched its Red prepaid plan.

“The first six months of this financial year have been filled with many great achievements for Vodafone Qatar. We have made impressive progress in building our network to cover 99 percent of the Qatar population in under 12 months and our customer base has grown way beyond our expectations,” said Maher.

The Peninsula