Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Mobilink’s Q3 Revenues Up 6.7 % (Read now )

Orascom Telecom reported its third quarter net profit for the nine months ended 30 September 130 percent higher from a year earlier to USD 951 million, compared with USD 413.3 million for the corresponding period last year, thanks to USD 822 million contribution recognized on the Mobinil transaction.

OT said that Nine-month profit included a $300 million payment received from France Telecom as part of settling ownership dispute over Mobinil.

Excluding the gain through Mobinil, third-quarter net profit from continuing operations was USD 112 million 40% down from USD 183.6 million for same period last year.

Orascom Telecom’s subscriber base increased 16 percent over the same period last year, to surpass 100 million mark to reach 103.3 million customers, versus 99.1 million in June 2010.

Orasom said that its revenues for the first nine months of the year reached USD 3.1 billion, up 1.6 percent over the same period of 2009 as a result of strong growth in most GSM operations, with the exception of Algeria.

The 8.9 percent decrease in Algerian operator Djezzy’s revenues is said to be driven by the crisis in Q4 2009, as well as the inability to launch new promotions until the end of Q3 2010 and banning advertising on government-owned TV channels.

EBITDA for the nine months was down 0.8 percent form a year ago to USD 1.33 billion. Capex fell 10.2 percent year-on-year to USD 457 million in the nine months.





Mobilink, Orascom’s arm in Pakistan, reported revenues of Rs. 70.4 billion for three quarters (2010) as compared to Rs. 64.3 billion in the same preiod last year. This translates into a YoY growth of 9.6 percent.

Mobilink posted revenue of PKR 23 billion for third quarter of 2010 as compared to PKR 21.5 billion for the same period last year, translating into a year on year increase of 6.27%.

EBITDA increased from PKR 7.7 billion in Q3 2009 to PKR 9 billion in Q3 2010, registering an increase of 17.8%. Mobilink subscriber base showed 4.7% growth as compared to closing base of Q3 2009 closing at 31.44 million at the end of Q3 2010.

Net gain was hampered by the devastating floods, said the Orascom. It said that out of the Mobilink’s 8,070 sites, more than 400 sites were affected.

Along with, Mobilink’s contributed Rs. 236 million as one of the largest private sector relief initiatives for flood hit areas.

Mobilink’s operational expenditures rose to Rs. 15.3 billion, up 19 percent from Rs. 12.79 billion during the same period a year ago.

Mobilink lost quarter million customers during the quarter, which the company says is a cleanup for some subscribers that were mistakenly considered active by the systems.

Commenting on results, Khaled Bichara, Group CEO, OTH said:

OTH subscribers have now surpassed the 100 million mark and net income before minority interest has reached US$ 922 million for the period. Bichara highlighted the challenges faced by Pakistan due to the floods and Orascom’s contribution for the benefit of the flood victims in Pakistan.

Rashid Khan, President and CEO, Mobilink said,

“Mobilink has further consolidated its position in the market and continues to market aggressively in Q3 2010. This is a great achievement for us at a time when the industry, economy and the nation as a whole is going through a tough time. We are not only re-investing in our infrastructure to further improve our quality and coverage but are also facilitating the flood affectees in the rehabilitation process. “

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Zulqarnain found in hotel in UK


LONDON: Pakistan cricket team’s missing wicketkeeper Zulqarnain has talked to Geo News on late Monday.

After he went missing from Dubai, he was found in a hotel at Heathrow airport in London from where he phoned Geo News.

He said I received death threats to loose 4th and 5th ODIs against South Africa but I could not compromise dignity of my country so I would rather fled away than selling out dignity and respect of my motherland.

He said he couldn’t further speak out over the issue until my family is given protection back in Pakistan.

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Sunday, November 7, 2010

The man who engineered the Burj Khalifa's limelight.

DUBAI // In both purpose and looks, the Burj Khalifa and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in the capital are as different as night and day.

But when the sun goes down, the world's tallest building and the third largest mosque in the world have one thing in common: they come alive courtesy of a beautiful array of lighting designed by the same man.

The complex process was devised and executed by a soft-spoken, bespectacled gentleman named Jonathan Speirs, co-founder of Speirs Major, a UK lighting design consultancy that boasts a long list of famous international clients.

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In addition to lighting the Burj al Arab hotel, Abu Dhabi's grand mosque and the Burj Khalifa, their list of projects includes such diverse structures as London's St Paul Cathedral and the Italian designer Giorgio Armani's boutiques in Tokyo, Milan, Beijing, Hong Kong and New York.

The tasks of lighting Burj Khalifa and the mosque came with their share of dramatic and challenging moments, Mr Speirs recalled this week when he addressed an audience of experts at the Light Middle East exhibition in Dubai.

The 828m-tall Burj Khalifa tower features 868 stroboscope lights, the powerful devices that produce flashes at certain floor intervals.

The aim was to recreate the notion of sparkle, the inspiration behind the scheme and one of three ideas that Speirs Major presented to the developer Emaar when they were competing for the contract.

While the finishing touches were being put to the lighting system last year, Mr Speirs spent a week working out of a terrace on the 14th floor of The Address Hotel, perfecting the sophisticated computer programme behind it.A team of designers and computer programmers would gather there every night to work out how the project played out directly on the Burj Khalifa facade.

Using a powerful antenna, the team would run software while watching out the window to see a corresponding visual effect on the Burj itself.

Construction work on the building would sometimes slow their progress.

"Some nights it was one step forward and several back," he said.

The Sheikh Zayed mosque project, for which the firm did both the internal and external lighting, was even more challenging.

Speirs Major had to come up with a second lighting concept after the first idea, which had reached the detailed design work stage, was shelved. The entire process took more than six years.

"It took a long time, but we think it was worth it," Mr Speirs said.

"It was stressful but, hopefully, people like it and think we have done something that shows respect towards the religion and the building."

It was March 2003 when a call "out of the blue" asked him whether he would consider taking on the job. Upon arriving in Abu Dhabi and finding a bare concrete structure, he learned it had to be finished by December the same year.

Despite the pressure, he was immediately taken with the project."I have to say, I became a bit like a schoolboy," he remembered. "I was calling the office every 10 minutes, telling them, 'You will not believe this."

The design bureau wanted to create a story in lights. And the story that they wanted to tell was one about eternity as manifested in the idea of "the cosmos, the stars and the sky".

That theme ultimately failed to gain approval in Abu Dhabi, and was rejected a week after the design was presented. The team returned to the drawing board.

The second idea - one that can be seen on the mosque today - centred around the lunar cycle which has special significance in Islam.

Depending on the phase of the moon, the exterior of the mosque is lit in a range from white to dark blue.

A sophisticated computer programme creates the illusion of gentle shadows moving across the facade, designed to depict the movement of clouds across the moonlit sky.

Once such a complex lighting system is devised, it must be meticulously maintained or the effect will diminish, said Mr Speirs. Both projects presented tough challenges for Mr Speirs and his team, but for the tourists and residents of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the results are two shining beacons in the night skyline.

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Australian crash investigators hunt crucial superjumbo part.

Sydney - Australian crash investigators Sunday pleaded with residents of Indonesia's Batam Island to help them recover a 'crucial' part from the Qantas Airways A380 that last week made an emergency landing in Singapore after one of its four engines failed.

The engine blow-out aboard Flight QF32 four minutes after takeoff Thursday sent broken parts and shards of engine cowling raining down on Batam.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) urged residents to hand in to police any fragments, in particular a metal disk with a worn flange that could be the key to explaining the failure of the Rolls-Royce engine.

'The recovery of that disk could be crucial to a full understanding of the nature of the engine failure and may have implications for the prevention of future similar occurrences,' the bureau said in a statement on its website.

Qantas grounded its flagship fleet of A380s, a jet that began commercial flights in 2007 and which is the world's largest passenger aircraft.

Qantas chief Alan Joyce ascribed the A380 engine blowout to a material failure or design fault rather than a maintenance lapse. The 2-year-old superjumbo operating QF32 had recently been serviced by Lufthansa in Frankfurt, Germany.

Joyce acknowledged the airline had received directives from the European Aviation Safety Agency concerning the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines fitted to the six A380s flown by Qantas. It had acted on the alerts, he said.

The alerts, in January and August, concerned abnormal wear inside the engines.
Sydney-bound Flight QF32 landed safely in Singapore nearly two hours after taking off.
Asked by German Press Agency dpa whether the fragment was the key to the engine failure, Bob Kells, the bureau's duty officer in Canberra, said: 'We don't know. It's called a resultant part. We
want to know if this was the part that initiated the problem.'
Kells said the flanged disk fragment, which looks like part of the gearbox of a car, would not be aluminium but 'some exotic material.'

The A380 emergency landing was followed 24 hours later by a Sydney-bound Qantas Boeing 747-
400 also experiencing an engine failure and returning to Singapore for an emergency landing.
To cap the 90-year-old carrier's string of mechanical problems, a 747-400 was forced to make an emergency landing at London's Heathrow Airport on Friday.

The jumbo was met on the tarmac by fire crews after the pilot reported a hydraulic fuel fault. A Qantas spokeswoman told Sydney's Sun-Herald newspaper that an examination showed it was a false alarm and the hydraulics were operating normally.

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Success for Virgin Atlantic at British Travel Awards.


Virgin Atlantic was among the big winners at the 2010 British Travel Awards ceremony, which was held at Battersea Park last night (4 November).

The airline was voted the best provider of business and first class services, with Emirates picking up the silver award in the category and British Airways taking bronze.

Virgin was also named the best economy class carrier and the top provider of scheduled long-haul flights, before picking up the airline of the year accolade.

Destinations and attractions were also recognised at the ceremony, with New York emerging as the most popular city break hotspot, followed by Barcelona and London.

The Greek Islands triumphed in the category covering beach holiday destinations, while the US was voted the best country to visit worldwide and the Universal resort in Orlando was named the top theme park.

Other winners on the night included Manchester airport (airport of the year) and Whistler in British Columbia, Canada (best worldwide ski resort).

The 2010 British Travel Awards were based on more than 220,000 votes cast by members of the public.

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Stansted Airport: Inflite wins VIP award.

STANSTED’S VIP handling agent Inflite the Jet Centre has received a top industry award for the second consecutive year.

It was named Best Handling Agent at the Baltic Air Charter Association (BACA) Luncheon Awards, held at London’s Guildhall.

The annual awards are voted for by BACA’s members, which include air brokers, airports, business aircraft operators and owners.

Director Penny-Annette Stephens was presented with the trophy by Patrick Margetson-Rushmore who sponsored the Best Handling Agent 2010 award.

The awards were hosted by guest speaker, TV sports presenter John Inverdale.

Inflite, were against high calibre competitors and to win this award was a mile stone for this family run company.

Mrs Stephens gave a passionate speech thanking all at Inflite for their hard work and to the voters for their support throughout the year.

BACA Members represent the elite of our trade, she added, to be voted Fixed Base Operator (FBO) of the Year by them for the second year running is the highest accolade.

Stansted Airport came out on top at the awards with not only Inflite winning but also Titan Airways, based at Stansted Airport, were named Best Passenger Charter Airline for the third time in five years.

Inflite has grown over the year with the launch of a new 53,000 sq ft hangar making a total of four heated hangars on the airport.

They are the longest standing FBO at Stansted and continue to shine in all areas of the business.

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Big businesses welcome government roll-back of immigration caps.

Just 50 people. That's how many foreign workers PricewaterhouseCoopers, which employs 18,000 UK staff, will be allowed to bring into Britain this year. And the accountancy firm is not happy.

PwC is not alone. Across the UK, banks, law firms, carmakers and industrial companies have been agitating vigorously about the coalition's draconian crackdown on the immigration of highly skilled staff.

This week, they thought they glimpsed a chink of light. The home secretary, Theresa May, announced on Friday that certain international transfers of existing employees within companies will be excluded from quotas placed on the number of overseas hires for big businesses. But the Observer has learned that this exemption on "intra-

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company" visas is likely to be tightly limited. Tentative proposals floated by ministers would allow firms to transfer overseas staff earning over £40,000 into the UK. But entry for lower paid workers, particularly those on less than £24,000, is set to be severely restricted.

May's concession came hot on the heels of another quiet shift – a refinement of visa renewals that allows companies to extend the stay of foreign workers already in Britain. That alleviated fears that big firms would have to start sending London-based international staff back home within months.

Company-by-company limits placed on foreign recruitment in July have been a source of intense anxiety. Many of the City's top banks, which have huge multinational workforces, were capped at around 40 foreign hires. One major drugs company was given an allowance of fewer than 10 visas.

The caps are part of an effort to achieve a Conservative manifesto pledge to reduce immigration from hundreds of thousands to "tens of thousands" annually. Businesses complain that they are being targeted because it is easier to address legitimate migration than illicit entry.

Japanese carmakers, including Honda, Toyota and Nissan, were only given a handful of permits but insist that they need to be able to bring technical experts from Tokyo to work at British factories. "Intra-company transfers are essential for our business to operate," says a Nissan spokesman. "They're clearly not the type of migration that the government was hoping to target. They're very small in number but essential for us."

In the Square Mile, senior sources say that disquiet over caps was sufficient for some banks to threaten a rethink over investment in London. An executive at one bank says that a block on transfers within companies could put "a serious check" on growth: "That new investment wouldn't be coming to London if you don't have the visas to slot people in to expand the business and grow by bringing in that person who, say, runs Turkish operations."

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Many investment banking firms headquarter their entire European and Middle Eastern operations from London and argue that they need people with a knowledge of markets in many different nations. They complain that the Home Office devised the bespoke company-by-company limits by taking firms' visa applications in 2009 – a low point for recruitment because of the recession – and then imposing arbitrary cuts of 5% to 15%.

Julia Onslow-Cole, head of global immigration at PwC, says her firm needs "significantly more" visas than its cap of 50 simply to renew expiring permits of workers already in London. She welcomes the refined criteria exempting renewals from the immigration cap: "The government announcements on the interim quota regime, guaranteeing extension applications, and the exemption for intra-company transfers in the final cap will be very welcome not just for PwC but also for our clients."

But in spite of last week's concessions, businesses still have major concerns. The Commons home affairs select committee recently recommended that international transfers within companies should be limited to two-year assignments, and immigration minister Damian Green has suggested visas will only be made available to people above a certain level in seniority, pay and skill. The government is to set out its full policy by the end of the year, with revised caps for companies to be introduced in April.

But the Corporation of London, the local authority for the Square Mile, was heartened by the pledges made on Friday. "The City welcomes the general direction of travel… We are also grateful that the home secretary acknowledged legitimate business concerns about the proposals," says a spokesman.

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