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Batelco has seen zero profit growth in its home market but its international expansion meant it was able to post a 10.7 per cent increase in profit for the first nine months of this year.
The company beat analysts expectations with net profit of BD78.2 million on a turnover up 25.6pc at BD213.2 million.
Operating expenditure and overheads have been diligently managed and earnings per share have risen to 65.2 fils.
"In spite of price reductions for products and services, arising from the highly-competitive nature of our markets, regulatory intervention, migration of customers to new broadband and telephony and mobile services, Batelco continues to maintain its leadership position in the kingdom while growing in strength across the Middle East," said Batelco chairman, Shaikh Hamad bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.
The results reflect the disciplined execution of Batelco's key strategic priorities to drive profitable growth and scale in its operations, according to chief executive Peter Kaliaropou-los.
"We continue to focus on launching innovative customer offerings, better value for tariffs and improved customer service," Mr Kaliaropoulos said.
"We are embracing the benefits of convergence in our industry and remain focused on delivering better mobile, broadband, IT and communications services.
"It is pleasing to deliver double-digit, top and bottom line growth, year-on-year, in highly competitive markets and managing the slowdown in our Bahrain operations."
Batelco maintained its scale in the consumer segment with the roll-out of new technologies, services, products, very competitive prices and added convenience with regard to purchasing products and services, he said. "International roaming agreements with 338 operators worldwide have been established to support customers in Bahrain whilst abroad. Great offers for Bahrain's consumers and business customers were announced recently when prices for IDD calls to GCC states were slashed to only 100 fils per minute, reduced from 160 fils peak and 140 fils off-peak," Mr Kaliaropoulos added.
Batelco Broadband enjoyed robust demand reflecting the increased enthusiasm from Bahrain's residents to tap into the vast resources available via the Internet and certainly boosted by Batelco's aggressive broadband offers.
As of last month, Batelco had 60,000 broadband connections, with the rate of take up still strong.
The business broadband base increased by 23 per cent between September last year and September this year.
Mr Kaliaropoulos announced that in Jordan, Batelco's subsidiary Umniah has achieved 1m subscribers complementing Batelco's 650,000 mobile customers in Bahrain.
This milestone was reached at a time when competition is rapidly increasing in the Jordanian and Bahraini telecom markets, he said.
Similarly, Sabafon has grown and is the largest GSM mobile operator in Yemen offering national coverage with over 550 base stations across the country.
The company has over 1.6 million mobile subscribers, and with a population of over 22 million there is plenty of scope to see that figure rise.
Both Sabafon and Umniah are growing and Umniah will also add a new string to its bow with the launch of Wimax-based broadband services for the Jordanian market later this year, a move which is expected to attract significant numbers of new customers to the company.
