Zain extends profit slump on FX woes
Zain, Kuwait’s No 1 telecom operator, blamed a plunge in the Sudanese pound and other foreign exchange moves as it reported a fifth straight decline in quarterly profit yesterday.
The former monopoly, which operates in eight countries in the Middle East and Africa, made a net profit of 53mn dinars ($187.2mn) in the three months to September 30, according to a company statement. This compares with a net profit of 59.7mn in the year-earlier period.
Analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast Zain would make a quarterly profit of 55.1mn.
Zain said its quarterly net profit would have risen slightly but for $28mn in foreign exchange losses, mostly relating to Sudan.
“Unavoidable foreign currency fluctuations continue to affect us adversely,” chief executive Scott Gegenheimer said.
Sudan lost three-quarters of its oil reserves when South Sudan became independent in 2011, with the Sudanese pound falling by about two-thirds against the dollar on the black market since then.
Sudan accounted for 15% of Zain’s revenue in the first six months of 2013.
Third-quarter revenue was 313mn dinars. This compares with 311mn dinars a year ago.
Air Arabia
Budget carrier Air Arabia, the UAE’s only publicly listed carrier, reported a 9% drop in third-quarter net profit yesterday, missing analyst forecasts.
The Sharjah-based carrier made a net profit of 206mn dirhams ($56mn) in the third quarter, compared with 226mn dirhams in the corresponding period in 2012, the company said in an e-mailed statement.
Three analysts polled by Reuters had forecast profit of 241.3mn dirhams for the quarter.
The low-cost carrier cited a seasonal slowdown in travel during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, which was from July to August this year.
Revenue reached 854mn dirhams, an increase of 6% from a year ago.
Air Arabia carried 1.5mn passengers in the quarter, an increase of 11% year-on-year, it said.
Waha Capital
Waha Capital, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, posted a near fourfold increase in its third-quarter profit as income from its portfolio companies increased sharply.
Waha posted a quarterly profit of 107.1mn dirhams ($29.2mn), compared with 27.5mn dirhams for the year-ago period, it said in a bourse statement yesterday.
The investment firm said income from its portfolio companies, which include New York-listed AerCap Holdings, rose to 84.9mn dirhams during the quarter from 49.5mn dirhams for the same period last year.
Waha is eyeing acquisitions worth up to 500mn dirhams ($136.2mn) in the UAE’s healthcare and education sectors as part of its diversification strategy, its CEO said yesterday.
Dubai Islamic Bank
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the largest Shariah-compliant lender in the emirate, said yesterday its third-quarter net profit jumped 52%, boosted by lower provisioning and core business growth.
The bank made 461.4mn dirhams ($125.6mn) in the three months to September 30, it said in response to a question from Reuters, up from 303.6mn in the corresponding period last year.
This comfortably beat forecasts from three analysts polled by Reuters, who on average expected a net profit of 416mn dirhams.
DIB’s profit for the first nine months of the year increased 33.5% to 1.2bn dirhams, the bank said in an earlier statement.
