Manama, Bahrain: Batelco Group (Ticker: BATELCO), the leading telecom in the Middle East of reference with operations across six countries, announced its results for the twelve-months ended 31 December 2012 ("the year").

Mobile and Broadband

Mobile subscriber numbers grew 17% year over year and 5% quarter on quarter. This increase was supported by strong performance in Jordan and Yemen as well as success in Bahrain in maintaining market share, despite aggressive competition. The fourth quarter in particular saw important gains with Bahrain reporting a 3% increase in its mobile subscriber base, underscoring the success of its promotions and customer retention efforts, in addition to growth and steady results from Yemen and Jordan, respectively. Broadband customers for the year also increased by an impressive 52% year over year and by 18% since the third quarter with results again supported by progress in Bahrain and Jordan and steady results from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Ongoing Growth and Diversification Overseas

In 2012, as noted, the Group companies in overseas markets continued to perform well, grow and support the strategy of diversification being pursued. For the year, contributions from operations outside of Bahrain increased both as a percentage of revenues and EBITDA. At year end 2012, 41% of revenues and 39% of EBITDA were sourced from overseas markets, helping to partially offset the effects of intense competitive pressures in Bahrain.

Jordan: 2012 was a landmark year for Umniah, in Jordan, which delivered 3% growth in its mobile subscriber base, following the launch of 3.75G services across the Kingdom. Exceeding plan and expected customer demand, more than 122,000 3G subscribers were added during 2012, bringing the company's mobile subscriber base to 2.4 million customers. Even greater uptake of the service is expected through 2013 with the continued rollout Kingdom-wide. These results not only served to reinforce Umniah's growing market leadership but also affirm the Group's belief and commitment to the Jordanian market where it has made significant investments including the purchase of the 3G license for which it paid JD50M (US$70M) in January of 2012. Similarly positive results were reported by Umniah for fixed and wireless broadband subscriber growth. The company posted an impressive increase of 521% year over year and a 62% rise quarter on quarter.

Kuwait: Batelco's subsidiary Qualitynet, which delivers total ICT solutions, remains the market leader in Data Communications and Internet Service Providers in Kuwait. In 2012, it maintained market share and position delivering steady results and ending the year with some 39,000 customers.

Other JVs: Sabafon (Yemen), in which the Group has a minority shareholding, returned to growth in 2012 following stabilization of the country's political situation and the rationalization of the customer base, which was completed in the first quarter and served to excluded non-active sim cards. The company ended the year with a subscriber base of more than 4.1 million users. This represents an impressive 33% increase year over year and 9% growth quarter on quarter. Further growth is expected throughout 2013 and beyond.

Atheeb (Saudi Arabia), in which Batelco holds a 15% stake, made progress in its strategy and the shift in its business model during 2012, focusing on the high margin business segment. While the near term results of this shift saw a year over year decline of 11% in voice and data services customers, the company was successful in adding a significant number of new business customers to keep numbers steady on a quarter-on-quarter basis and in terms of enabling the company to grow revenues as a result of higher value business subscribers coming to represent a greater percentage of its customer base.

This press release has been issued by Batelco Corporate Affairs department.
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