Zain Group, Kuwait’s No1 telecom operator by subscribers, reported a 35% drop in fourth-quarter profit yesterday, extending a slump as foreign currency volatility hurt its earnings once again.
The former monopoly, which operates in eight countries in the Middle East and Africa, made a net profit of 33mn dinars ($112.2mn) in the three months to December 31, it said in a statement, without providing a year earlier figure. The company made 50.8mn dinars in the same period of 2013, according to Thomson Reuters data. Two analysts polled by Reuters forecast Zain would make a quarterly profit of between 48.3mn dinars and 53.7mn dinars.
The firm posted falling profits in seven of the preceding nine quarters as revenue was dented by intense domestic competition, service interruptions in Iraq and declines in the value of Sudan’s currency, where it is the biggest operator. The company said currency variations cost it 12mn dinars in the fourth quarter of 2014, more than the 10mn dinars it cost them in the same period of 2013.
