stc announced its annual consolidated financial results for 2021 . Financial highlights include total revenues reaching to SAR 63.4 billion, a YoY increase of 7.6%; the operating profit reaching to SAR 13.1 billion, a YoY increase of 3.1%; and EBITDA reaching SAR 22.8 billion, a YoY increase of 3.4%.
Commenting on these results, Eng. Olayan Mohammed Alwetaid, stc Group CEO, stated that the positive results achieved by the company for 2021 came in line with their expectations, as the company was able to grow its top line by 7.6% compared to the previous year.
This was driven by the strong performance witnessed in the enterprise business unit, which was able to grow its revenues by 20.9%, benefiting from the company’s ability to accommodate the strong demand from the public and private sectors. The wholesale business unit also continued its positive contribution to the company’s financial results, as it achieved a growth of 2.9%, thru leveraging stc’s infrastructure investment.
The residential segment also achieved a growth in its revenues, with an increase of 10.5%, which supported the consumer business unit’s financial performance. This is primarily due to an increase in FTTH and fixed wireless access subscribers by 10.3% and 21.7%, respectively. Moreover, the revenue growth witnessed in stc’s subsidiaries also contributed positively to the company’s financial results.
In line with Saudi Vision 2030, stc will continue its national role and contributions towards achieving the vision by investing in the digitization of the economy, strengthening its assets, diversifying its services, developing commercial and operational capabilities, and maintaining its ICT leadership in the region. In achieving its “DARE” strategy, the company will continue to invest in new business trends and execute its ambitious plans to expand in telecommunications and infrastructure, in addition to developing new platforms such as IoT, cloud, cybersecurity, data analytics, digital services and applications, data center hosting services, in addition to regional and international connectivity.
2021 key milestones
Eng. Alwetaid went on to say that the year 2021 was full of challenges and successes for stc Group. The company, through its digital payments company (stc pay), was able to obtain the approval of the Council of Ministers for stc pay to become one of the first digital banks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Also, they have launched the Advanced Technology and Cybersecurity Company (sirar by stc); a new company dedicated to providing advanced cybersecurity services and solutions to the business sector. Furthermore, the company launched stcplay to lead the transformation in the gaming and e-sports sector and to act as a digital enabler for the gaming sector in the KSA and the Middle East. During the year, they have also witnessed the successful listing of (solutions by stc) in the Saudi stock exchange, Tadawul, which represents a qualitative and important leap in supporting companies working in the field of communications and information technology.
Recently, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and stc Group also announced the successful completion of the secondary public offering. 120 million shares representing 6.0% of stc’s share capital were sold to local and international institutional investors and retail investors by way of a secondary public offering, the first of its kind in the Saudi capital market. The total offering size reached SAR 12 billion, which makes it the largest secondary public offering in EMEA in the last three years.
Eng. Alwetaid also pointed out that stc surpassed its counterparts in the region to become the most valuable brand in the telecommunications sector for the second year in a row, according to Brand Finance. The company celebrated being the region’s fastest-growing brand, up impressively by 16% to $10.6 billion in 2021 and increasing its brand value by 32% over the past two years.
Finally, stc is continuing its data centers project Phase 3, which will be the biggest project of data center construction across the region after the completion of Phases 1 and 2. The new phase of constructing its next-generation cloud-enabled data centers aims to expand presence and capacity, accelerate the implementation of the Kingdom’s digital transformation objectives, and provide world-class seamless data distribution with energy optimization solutions which is in line with the environmental sustainability goals of Saudi Arabia. The Tier III enhanced data center is a planned IT power with a maximum capacity of 125 MW, in an area of more than 180,000 sqm. As part of Phase 3, the company recently launched its Jeddah data center, which is a continuation of the company's strategic plan to become the first regional digital center for data centers. This is part of stc's ambition and comprehensive strategy to provide the best digital and telecom services in the region.