Qtel joins Algerie bidding
Qtel has joined the list of bidders to take a strategic stake in government-owned Algerie Telecom, despite having already accumulated $4,500 million worth of debt to fund acquisitions this year.
Algiers is preparing to sell 35-51 per cent of Algerie Telecom to the private sector. The company has a monopoly over fixed-line telecoms services in Algeria and also owns one of the country's three mobile phone licences.
The field of bidders is increasingly crowded, with the UAE's Etisalat and Kuwait's MTC also interested.
Post, Information and Telecommunications Minister Boudjemaa Haichour says about 45 telecoms companies have expressed an interest in buying the stake in Algerie Telecom.
However, the government has yet to finalise how much of the company it will sell, or set a deadline for any deal.
Qtel's profit margins were halved in the second quarter of 2007 as the company started to repay some of the debt it took on to fund its purchase of a $3,700 million, 51 per cent stake in Kuwait's Wataniya in March.
It also bought 25 per cent of Singapore's Asia Mobile Holdings in January.
Qtel's profit margin in the second quarter of 2007, the first full quarter of trading since the Wataniya deal, fell to 19 per cent. In the same period in 2006, its profit margin was 39.1 per cent.
The company generated revenues of QR 2,562 million ($703.9 million) in the second quarter of 2007, and net profits of QR 485.8 million ($133.5 million).
www.meed.com/telecomsit
Qtel has joined the list of bidders to take a strategic stake in government-owned Algerie Telecom, despite having already accumulated $4,500 million worth of debt to fund acquisitions this year.
Algiers is preparing to sell 35-51 per cent of Algerie Telecom to the private sector. The company has a monopoly over fixed-line telecoms services in Algeria and also owns one of the country's three mobile phone licences. The field of bidders is increasingly crowded, with the UAE's Etisalat and Kuwait's MTC also interested. Post, Information and Telecommunications Minister Boudjemaa Haichour says about 45 telecoms companies have expressed an interest in buying the stake in Algerie Telecom. However, the government has yet to finalise how much of the company it will sell, or set a deadline for any deal. Qtel's profit margins were halved in the second quarter of 2007 as the company started to repay some of the debt it took on to fund its purchase of a $3,700 million, 51 per cent stake in Kuwait's Wataniya in March. It also bought 25 per cent of Singapore's Asia Mobile Holdings in January. Qtel's profit margin in the second quarter of 2007, the first full quarter of trading since the Wataniya deal, fell to 19 per cent. In the same period in 2006, its profit margin was 39.1 per cent. The company generated revenues of QR 2,562 million ($703.9 million) in the second quarter of 2007, and net profits of QR 485.8 million ($133.5 million). www.meed.com/telecomsitThis content is only available to full MEED package subscribers (MEED magazine and MEED.com).
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