Mobile operator Vodafone Qatar announced a QAR673.4m ($185.1m) loss in its 2009-2010 fiscal year ended March  2010, largely owing to the firm’s amortisation of its QAR7.7bn licence fee.

The amortisation of the licence fee began on the date the network was ready for service in May 2009, and was therefore not present in last year’s financial statement.

The Vodafone unit, which listed on the Qatari bourse in July 2009, posted a revenue of QAR361.5m in its yearly financial results ended March 2010 as its customer base rose to almost 465,000.

“While Vodafone Qatar’s customer numbers are 121 per cent ahead of plan, revenue is 26 per cent ahead of plan,” the company said in a statement.  

The operator had posted a loss of QAR132.9m in the previous 2008-09 fiscal year.

Vodafone won the bid for Qatar’s second mobile telephone licence for $2.12bn in 2007, breaking the monopoly held by Qatar Telecom.