Vodafone Egypt said it ruled out possible revenue growth for the remainder of the year, despite strong new customer acquisitions, the company's CEO Hatem Dweidar said in a Beltone Financial report this week. The announcement caught a number of analysts by surprise, especially as the operator had reported a subscriber base reaching around 35 million through the end of June. “It is very interesting that the company would say this considering all the evidence that we have that the company is moving forward and gaining steam,” said Mohamed Naguib, a financial expert with CI Capital, an Egyptian securities and analysis firm. “Maybe they know something we all don't know yet.” The company countered by saying they predict a massive growth throughout the next year as Egypt moves forward on free elections and a new government. “Certainly this will be helpful, but the government in the past has not really hindered their profit margins,” added Naguib. Dweidar, in comments published by local newspapers on Wednesday, said that the company was looking to boost and add to its already existing 3G and value-added services in order to pull in more users. Beltone said it expects the Egyptian telecom market to improve throughout next year, on the increased usage of telecom services amidst political campaigning timed with elections, due to take place starting the end of 2011 and continuing into 2012 with presidential voting. BM
