The Mobilink, the countrys market leader in cellular communications and part of the Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) registered a growth of 12 percent in revenue in terms of local currency reaching Rs 86 billion, while the earning before interest taxation depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) reached Rs 29.5 billion, up 2.5 percent over the year 2007.
The Mobilink, which earned Rs 76.9 billion in 2007, has managed to register double-digit growth in 2008 despite the stressful economic environment. Moreover, the full year 2008 results issued by the Egyptian telecom giant Orascom Telecom stated that during 2008, Mobilink invested $537 million in its infrastructure, as compared to $520 million in 2007. This investment was primarily targeted to enhance the capacity, network quality and coverage. During the year, Mobilink added 1,487 new cell sites to its network, taking the total number of the cell sites to 7,915.
Commenting on OTH financial results, Naguib Sawiris, Chairman OTH, said "Our underlying growth in local currency terms was in line with our guidance of 18-20 percent growth for the year and that the performance in dollars has been negatively influenced by the sharp devaluation of the Pakistani Rupee against the dollar and by the sharp rise in cost of oil and utilities in Pakistan during second and third quarters.
During 2008 most of our operations have continued to exhibit robust organic growth, with over 7.5 million net subscribers added; in Pakistan, the slowdown of the economy coupled with our introduction of a new three month active churn policy has eliminated from Mobilinks customer base approximately two million inactive subscribers. This measure has no impact on our top line."-PR