VIVA holds AGM, EGM; posts KD 43mn profit
Total revenues for 2015 reach KD 277 mln, a strong growth of 16%
KUWAIT CITY, March 31: Kuwait Telecommunications Company (VIVA) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Extraordinary General Meeting at the Regency Hotel on 31 March 2016, and the attendance represented 76.65% of the number of ordinary shares of the company.
The AGM approved the board of directors’ report and the auditors’ report and the sharia committee’s report for the year ending on Dec 31, 2015, and the whole clauses mentioned in the AGM’s agenda. In addition, the AGM approved financial statements and the board of directors’ recommendation to not distribute any dividends for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2015.
On the other hand, the EGM approved the whole agenda’s clauses including the amendments on the memorandum of association and the policy according to the companies’ law 1/2016 and the instructions issued by the Capital Markets Authority.
Dr Mahmoud Ahmad Abdulrahman, Chairman of the Board, said: “In 2015, VIVA was able to generate KD 43 million in net profit (earnings per share of 86 fils) compared to KD 40 million (earning per share 81 fils) in 2014. These results reveal the solid performance of the company’s revenues and operations through the continued upward trend of financial and opera- tional indicators. This reflected positively on shareholder equity which reached KD 93 million, also the Company’s board of directors recommended not to distribute any dividends for the fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2015, this recommendation is subject to the approval of the shareholder’s at the annual general assembly and the specialized regulating authority.
“These excellent results foster VIVA’s position as leader Telecom Company in Kuwait and the region, due to plans, strategies, services and creative offers that meet deeply the market’s needs and the customers’ expectations,” concluded Dr Abdulrahman.
Eng. Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Badran, VIVA’s Chief Executive Officer said: “VIVA was able to accomplish this growth in an extremely competitive telecom market in Kuwait. VIVA was able to maintain its position as the second largest telecom operator in the Kuwaiti market in term of subscribers and revenues, which positively affected the company’s financial performance, expanded our market share while increasing our customer base by 2% to reach 2.5 million subscribers in 2015. Total revenues reached KD 277 million, representing a strong growth of 16% compared to the same period last year.
“VIVA continues to look forward and benefit from the best new technologies to provide our clients with advanced innovative services while achieving further growth and accomplishments. We are proud to be the first leading telecom company to launch the Voice Over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) in partnership with Huawei for the first time in Kuwait and the Middle East. This is in addition to VIVA’s commercial presence across Kuwait, which has expanded to 70 branches, enabling us to be closer to our customers and to meet the growing demand for our products and services. Our achievements were also recognized in the second half of the current year as shown by our winning of several awards for excellence in the Kuwaiti telecom sector, including “Best Industry Call Center” and “Best Medium Help Desk” from Insights - Middle East Call Center Awards 2015, the only Call Centre dedicated, Professional Services Organization in the Middle East,” continued Al-Badran.
Mr Al-Badran concluded: “I would like to express my appreciation to the whole VIVA family, including all our employees, our business partners, customers and shareholders, to whom we owe our success.”
Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Qatie, Chief Financial Officer said: “VIVA’s performance continued to be steady and strong which enhanced the company’s main financial indicators, and increased its customer base, where the rate of return on total assets stood at 16%, while the percentage of return on equity reached 46% during 2015. On the other hand, the company managed to reduce funding to equity ratio of x1.71 at the end of 2014 to x0.78 at the end of 2015. This has positively affected free cash flow, which has reached KD 32 million in 2015, reflecting a growth of 67%, compared to 2014.”