Palestine-based Wataniya Mobile wants to delay the second part of its initial public offering (IPO).

The mobile operator, owned by Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has requested an extension until September.

“We want to make sure the second tranche is as successful as the first one, so we’ve contacted the authorities to ask them for an extension and I think they will support us,” says Bassam Hannoun, chief executive officer of Wataniya Mobile.

The company floated 15 per cent of its shares back in December 2010 in the first tranche, which raised $75m and was 1.5 times oversubscribed. Hannoun hopes the second tranche will generate a similar sum, although it would depend on the final pricing.

The political situation and Israel’s withholding of value-added tax (VAT) payments has created uncertainty in the markets and reduced Palestinian spending power. The Israeli authorities withheld VAT payments, which make up 33 per cent of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) revenues in November in retaliation to Unesco’s decision to accept Palestine as a full member.

“It is a smart move to extend the second tranche until after [Wataniya’s] financials go into black. It will be in a better situation once the company has broken even,” says Ahmad Aweidah, chief executive officer of the Palestine Exchange (PEX).

Wataniya launched its operations in the West Bank in 2009, since then it has gained 25 per cent of the market share and 500,000 subscribers. The company has spent $100m delivering and installing equipment to Gaza, but is still waiting for the Israeli authorities to grant it the required frequencies to launch mobile services there.