“The year 2013 was marked by strong cash generation and growing customer numbers across the Group, mainly attributable to the inclusion of our new Island Portfolio businesses. Diversification has been central to our strategy for a number of years and we are very pleased to see our investments deliver in line with our expectations,” Batelco Group Chairman, Shaikh Hamad Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, announcing the 2013 financial results following a meeting of the Board of Directors on Tuesday at the Group’s Bahrain Headquarters, said.
“In line with the Group’s continued diversification, 54% of revenues and 50% of EBITDA are now generated from markets outside of Bahrain where the Group continues to focus on strengthening its performance and reach,” the Group in a statement said.
Batelco Group ended the year with a strong balance sheet and financial position as of 31 December 2013, net assets were $1.58billion with substantial cash and bank balances of $526.8million and net debt of $116.7 million. In November 2013 Batelco commenced a buyback of its $650 million seven-year Reg S bond offering, with $39.5million repurchased as of 31 December 2013. “The bond buyback offers Batelco the opportunity to deploy excess liquidity in realizing interest savings and managing debt levels,” the Group statement added.
The Group also reported that the Board of Directors would recommend to the Annual General Assembly of Shareholders a full year cash dividend of $84.1million, at a value of 20 fils per share, of which 10 fils per share was already paid during the third quarter of 2013 with the remaining 10 fils to be paid in cash following the AGM in March. In addition, the Board of Directors will also recommend a 5% bonus share issue, awarding one extra share for every 20 shares currently held by the Company’s shareholders.
“We have been continuing over the year with our restructuring and cost rationalisation programme, announced in 2012. We look forward to reaping the benefits of this exercise which will help us to further strengthen our performance and financial results as we go forward.”
“Our strategy and ongoing efforts to achieve operational excellence and growth ensures the Group provides shareholders with some of the highest dividend yields in our industry region wide. Accordingly, we are pleased to announce the Board’s recommendation to the General Assembly for a sound shareholder dividend for 2013. We are confident that the fruits of our acquisition, which have been accretive from the outset, will continue to help further bolster profitability and our ability to deliver the best value for shareholders,” Shaikh Hamad, said.
Batelco Chairman Shaikh Hamad said that Board of Directors and executive team were extremely pleased with the strides made during 2013 and the solid foundations laid for moving forward and growing the Group’s operations, subscriber base and presence in all markets.
“Among our plans in 2014 is the roll out of superfast 4G LTE for four of our new operations, Dhiraagu and SURE Telecom in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. This is in line with our strategy to extend our expertise across our entire Group to deliver greater benefits for our customers wherever they may live.”
“Our achievements and ongoing success are a reflection of the strong leadership by our executive teams, supported by tremendous efforts by our employees across all markets to retain our customers’ loyalties and improve the way we develop and deliver services. The continuous focus by all our people on improving the way we serve our customers coupled with financial discipline, will enable us to meet our long term objectives,” he said.
“We have entered 2014 in a strong financial position; our growth over 2013 positions us as one of the most important organisations in Bahrain and the Kingdom’s largest shareholding company. We remain focussed on our customers at home and overseas to ensure our provisioning exceeds their expectations. Furthermore, we also remain focussed on strengthening our performance to better serve all Batelco Group stakeholders,” Shaikh Hamad, added.