DUBAI, July 25 (Reuters) - Vodafone Qatar, anaffiliate of Vodafone Group, said on Thursday itsfirst-quarter loss narrowed and named a new chairman of itsboard.
Vodafone, which ended Qatar Telecom's (Qtel)domestic monopoly in 2009, made a first-quarter net loss of 85million riyals ($23.3 million) in the three months to June 30.That compares with a loss of 118.3 million riyals in theyear-earlier period. The operator's financial year starts onApril 1.
Quarterly revenue was 459 million riyals, up 31 percent onthe same three months a year ago, according to the boursestatement.
Two analysts polled by Reuters forecast Vodafone Qatar wouldmake a quarterly loss of 67 million and 65.5 million riyals.
Vodafone Qatar said it had named Sheikh Khalid bin Thani binAbdullah al-Thani as its new chairman of the board. He replacesSheikh Abdulrahman bin Saud Al-Thani, who had chaired thecompany since June 2008.
Vodafone, which owns 23 percent of Vodafone Qatar, inNovember extended a contract to manage its Qatari affiliateuntil 2018.
Vodafone had 1.146 million mobile customers as of June 30, up31 percent from a year earlier.
First-quarter average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metricfor the telecom sector, was stable at 123 riyals, the statementadded.
Vodafone (VOD)