Bahrain Telecommunications Co. (Batelco), whose attempt to buy a stake in Zain Saudi failed last year, aims to make at least one acquisition in 2012 to offset falling domestic revenue, its chief executive told Reuters. The former monopoly has reported declining profits in six of the past seven quarters, caused by stiffening competition from rival domestic mobile operators. There are also about 10 Internet providers to service Bahrain's estimated 1.3 million people, in what many analysts describe as the most competitive Gulf market. “The key is to increase scale,” said Mohamed Isa Al-Khalifa, Batelco group chief executive, who took the helm in August last year. “We are coming from a very small market and can only do so much in our own market. We want to grow our international operations and compensate for any potential loss in revenue in our home market.” He said Batelco's target was to make at least one acquisition in 2012. “We are working on some, but I can't promise anything.” “We are focusing on the Mena region - we have built a cluster around Bahrain and would like to grow this cluster,” said Al-Khalifa. It has a market value of around $1.7 billion and cash and bank balances of $286 million, its 2011 annual report said. It could leverage its balance sheet to $1 billion or more for acquisitions.
