stc has announced the company’s preliminary financial results for the period ending at 31 December 2020:
- Revenues for the 4th quarter reached SR 15,213m with an increase of 14.69% compared to the corresponding quarter last year. For the 12 months period of 2020, the revenues reached SR 58,949m an increase of 8.43%.
- Gross Profit for the 4th quarter reached SR 8,489m with an increase of 1.54% compared to the corresponding quarter last year. For the 12 months period of 2020, the Gross Profit reached SR 33,997m with an increase of 4.96%.
- Operating Profit for the 4th quarter reached SR 3,290m with an increase of 37.08% compared to the corresponding quarter last year. For the 12 months period of 2020, the Operating Profit reached SR 12,816m with an increase of 2.69%.
- Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Zakat, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) for the 4th quarter reached to SR 5,716m with an increase of 14.62% compared to the corresponding quarter last year. For the 12 months period of 2020, the Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Zakat, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) reached SR 22,175m with an increase of 4.28%.
- Net Profit for the 4th quarter reached SR 2,683m with an increase of 15.60% compared to the corresponding quarter last year. For the 12 months period of 2020, the Net Profit reached SR 11,085m with an increase of 3.94%.
Commenting on these results, Eng. Nasser bin Sulaiman Al-Nasser, stc Group CEO, stated that the company has achieved the highest annual revenue in the past 8 years. This achievement was primarily due to the increased demand for stc’s various services & products, and the company’s ability to meet this demand promptly and efficiently, especially during COVID-19 pandemic. The Consumer Business Unit revenue has grown as a result of 27.5% increase in FTTH and 10.6% increase in broadband subscribers, in addition to a 9.0% increase in data revenue during the current period compared to the previous period (12M). Further, The Enterprise Business Unit revenue has also increased during the 12 months period, by 24.6%, due to the company’s ability to provide the necessary support and innovative services to its customers in order to accelerate their digital infrastructure transformation. Despite the challenges faced by the Wholesale Business Unit due to the travel ban and its impact on international roaming revenues, Wholesale’s revenue increased during this year as well. Moreover, the revenue generated by stc’s subsidiaries grew by 13.8% during the current year, which contributed positively to achieving these results.
Mr. Al-Nasser also pointed out to stc’s success as a digital enabler for the Saudi G20 presidency, where stc provided critical telecommunications and digital services for all meetings as well as expanding the 5G network by 130% to accommodate the increase in digital services during the G20 summit, which has concluded successfully.
Recently, the company launched 3 mega Data Centers in Riyadh, Jeddah and Al-Madina with the aim of enabling the digital transformation of the government and private sectors and strengthening the cloud infrastructure for the local digital economy in the fields of artificial intelligence, Internet of things and cloud computing, according to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 targets. Furthermore, the data centres were designed in accordance with the highest international standards, and they are a testament to the company’s commitment to achieving its strategy “dare”, and to bring about a major evolution of network architecture to enable the digital transformation in all cities within the Kingdom. Additionally, in order to enhance the infrastructure and accelerate the growth of the local digital economy, stc also signed a USD 500 million non-binding MoU to invest in the field of cloud services with Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and artificial intelligence arm of the Alibaba Group.
Moreover, stc has been assigned with the highest grade credit rating by SIMAH Rating Agency, Tassnief, as “AAA” for long term and “T1” for short term. The assigned credit rating grade reflects the positive vision of SIMAH Rating Agency on stc, represented by its strategic plans and operational capability with the support of its high cash flows and revenue growth. In addition to the strength of its financial position and its credit indicators to meet any financing requirements in the future.
As a continuation of the company’s achievements at the local and global fronts, stc Group was re-elected to take part in The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) Board of Directors, following its victory in the elections comprising the world’s 25 top and key telecommunications companies. stc is the first Saudi company to accomplish and maintain such an achievement. In this respect, stc’s election came in recognition of its position as a digital transformation leader and reflects KSA’s prominent influence on global and regional policy-making regulating the telecommunications sector, which comes in line with KSA’s strategies and directions of the telecommunications sector, according to the Saudi Vision 2030.
Lastly, as part of stc’s strategy to support and develop the financial sector in the kingdom, stcPay signed an agreement with Western Union to sell an equity stake of 15% at a value of SAR 750 million (USD 200 million), where the proceeds will be used to develop the company and support its expansion plans.
