Paltel Group owns the 100% of Jawwal Company since it has purchased the Palestinian Authority’s share which was 35% of its capital attaining 66 million Jordanian Dinars.

 

Al-Jaber announcement was in the context of his answer to the question regarding raising the Group’s capital by re-capitalizing part of the profits, in addition to the cash distributions which the Board of Directors recommended to the general assembly.

 

Al-Jaber also said: currently, it is not the Group shareholders’ interest to raise its capital, particularly, because there is no need for that. Circulating “Jawwal’s” shares in the stock market is better for the shareholder than raising the Group’s capital. It will achieve great financial benefit for them.

 

Jawwal is the biggest shareholder of the group''s operational earnings and profits, that attained 56.5 million Jordanian Dinars last year.

 

Jawwal network users, currently, exceed 800 thousand customers. Al-Jaber expected that the number will increase to one million customers during this year.

 

He said: the Group has allocated about 30 million dollars, this year, to be invested in new equipments for Jawwal.

 

Strategic Coalitions

 

No Partnerships

 

On the other hand, Al-Jaber said: the possibility of inviting a strategic partner to Jawwal no more exists because there is no financial, administrative or technical need, but he assured the Group’s willingness to conclude strategic coalitions with foreign investors.

 

Paltel rejected, two years ago, an offer from Kuwaiti Mobile Telecommunication Company MTC to buy a majority share in Jawwal.

 

Al-Jaber said: the big growth in Jawwal’s earnings justifies our rejection to sell 51% of its shares to MTC.

 

He added: we are not in need to a strategic partner, but strategic coalitions is something different, indicating the negotiations with potential allies: I expect concluding agreements with these parties by the end of this month or early next month, but he refused to name these parties until signing agreements with them.

 

The Israeli Obstacles

 

Al-Jaber mentioned the obstacles facing Jawwal since its establishment, especially that Israel refused to provide it with sufficient frequencies, and held its equipment in the seaports and airports for long times , which drove the company to construct switchboards in London, by which half of the customers’ phone calls pass. Moreover, Israel has prevented the company’s tower-building in zone (C) in the West Bank, In addition to the illegal and unequal competition facing it by the Israeli companies from the first day.

 

Financial Performance

 

Al-Jaber also mentioned the increased development in the Group financial performance and operational earnings during the last years, whereas the size of its operational earnings was increased up to 185.5 million Jordanian Dinars compared to 152.6 million in 2005.

 

The Group has achieved about 56.5 million Dinars, last year, as net profits versus 70 million Dinars in 2005.

 

Al-Jaber mentioned: the operational earnings achieved big growth last year, but the profit decrease was due to the loss in the Group’s investment portfolio which attained 10 million Dinars as a result of the retreat in most of Arab stock markets versus profits in this portfolio exceeded 14 million Dinars in 2005.

 

Despite that, Al-Jaber said, the Group has an excellent investment portfolio distributed over many regional and international stock markets.

 

He said: the volume of this portfolio attains about 50 million dollars, and its most substantial investment is in the Arab Bank, Cairo-Amman Bank, Housing Bank, PADECO and the Egyptian ORASCOM, in addition to universal bonds.

 

He added: the Board of Directors has a tendency to maintain the strategic shares, and we will not be a party in shares’ trading.

 

 

The New Operator

 

On the other hand, Al-Jaber criticized the expected amendments on the agreement of the second mobile telephone license which the National Kuwaiti Company for Mobile communications won as a strategic partner by 40% with the Palestinian Investment Fund which belongs to the Authority.

 

Amongst the expected amendments on the agreement, according to Al-Jaber, is not giving new licenses for international communication for a certain period, and decreasing the services and restricting them to a certain party.

 

And he said: when the license was offered, it didn’t contain any of these conditions, and so it is not allowed to be modified, but if this happens, the license shall be invited for tendering again.

 

Al-Jaber assured: Paltel is supporting the opening of communication sector for competition, but these amendments violate the trend towards liberating this sector, we don’t accept to give the others what we were deprived from for years.

 

Al-Jaber also criticized the Investment Fund assumption of negotiations with the Kuwaiti company. The fund is a partner and it is not allowed to run the negotiations process.