The net profits of the Kuwaiti listed telecommunication firms have declined 36% y-o-y in the first quarter of 2015.

The earnings of four local listed firms have retreated to nearly KWD 54.14 million in Q1-FY15, against KWD 84.25 million for the same period of the previous year.
 
The telecom sector on Kuwait Stock Exchange (EGX) includes the stock of Ooredoo, viva,  Zain and Hits Telecom.  

The profitability of the Kuwaiti telecom companies have been pressured by the decline in the profits of Ooredoo and Zain in the first quarter of 2015, according to the data compiled by Mubasher.

"The firms' operating profits had gone down on the fierce competition between the telecom operators," said Capital market consultant Nawaf Al Shaya.

As for the National Mobile Telecommunications "Ooredoo", its net profits slid 88.7% to KWD 2.24 million in Q1-FY15, against KWD 19.81 million for the same period of 2014.

Mobile Telecommunications (Zain) posted net profits of KWD 41.11 million for Q1-FY15, compared with KWD 55.91 million for Q1-FY14, a decline of 26.47%.

Meanwhile, Hits Telecom turned to profitability in Q1-FY15, as it posted KWD 417,230 in net profits against KWD 42,820 in losses for the similar period of the preceding year.

Kuwait Telecommunication(VIVA) was the only listed telecom company that recorded growth in its net profits for Q1-FY15, through KWD 10.37 million in net profits against KWD 8.56 million for the corresponding period of 2014.