Batelco expected 2010 net profit to be 15 percent below the
105 million dinars ($279 million) it reached in 2009, mainly due to the
start-up costs of Indian operator S Tel, in which Batelco bought a 49 percent
stake last year.
“The biggest impact on our net profit is the share of losses
from our start-up in India,” Peter Kaliaropoulos told Reuters, adding the
losses would amount to about 12-13 million dinars this year and could reach up
to 15 million next year.
He said he expected next year’s net profit “at the same
level” as this year, depending on how much the company can cut its costs.
Batelco plans to reduce its costs by 8-10 percent annually
to compensate for lower revenues in Bahrain, where it is losing market share to
competitors Saudi Telecom Co. and Kuwait’s Zain.
Just like other Gulf Arab operators, Batelco is under
pressure to make acquisitions abroad to offset increased competition at home.
But Kaliaropoulos cautioned it would take Batelco time to
make an acquisition.
“It’s not something that will happen this month, next month,
(even though) the plan was for 2010 to have one big acquisition,” Kaliaropoulos
told a news conference.
“We’re interested in the bigger targets, and there are fewer
of them, so it takes time,” he said.
He reiterated that Batelco was interested in buying a 25
percent stake in the Saudi operations of Zain that Emirates Telecommunications
would have to sell if its plans to buy a 46 percent stake in Zain go through.