Indebted telecom operator Zain Saudi reported a narrower second-quarter loss yesterday, in line with analyst forecasts, as revenue rose and financing costs fell.
Saudi Arabia’s No 3 mobile company, 37% owned by Kuwait’s Zain, made a net loss of 370mn riyals ($98.7mn) in the three months to June 30, it said in a bourse statement. That compares with a net loss of 394mn riyals in the prior-year period.
Analysts polled by Reuters on average forecast Zain Saudi would make a quarterly loss of 374mn riyals.
The company has multibillion dollar debts and has yet to make a quarterly profit since launching operations in 2008.
Quarterly revenue was 1.71bn riyals, up from 1.57bn riyals a year ago.
Zain this increase “resulted from the increased number of subscribers”, but did not give further details.
It said financing costs in the second quarter were 174mn riyals, down 21% on the corresponding period of last year.
Saudi Electricity
Saudi Electricity Co posted a 10% rise in second-quarter net profit yesterday after receiving a one-off payment to settle a dispute with the national oil company.
SEC said its net income for the three months to June 30 was 1.50bn riyals ($401mn), compared with 1.36bn riyals in the same period a year earlier.
Analysts at KSB Capital, an investment company, had forecast SEC would make a net profit of 1.43bn riyals.
In a statement to the stock exchange, the company attributed the increase in profit to the non-recurring, 729mn riyal settlement payment from Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Saudi Aramco).
Mobily
Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), Saudi Arabia’s No 2 telecom operator, beat analyst forecasts with a 13.4% rise in second-quarter net profit yesterday as revenue from data and business services increased and the firm made efficiency gains.
Mobily, an affiliate of the UAE’s Etisalat, made a second-quarter net profit of 1.61bn riyals ($429.31mn), up from 1.42bn riyals in the same period a year earlier, it said in a bourse statement.
The firm said the profit increase was “due to the increase in business revenues, higher data revenues and improved efficiencies”, but provided few further details.
Mobily’s revenue for the three months to June 30 was 5.97bn riyals, up from 5.68bn riyals from the prior-year period.
The firm plans to buy a stake in loss-making fixed line operator Etihad Atheeb, a move seen as helping it offer service bundles that include voice, data and television services.
Al Tayyar Travel
Saudi Arabia’s Al Tayyar Travel Group yesterday posted a 24% rise in second-quarter net profit to 302mn riyals ($81mn), citing improved sales.
The result, which the company published on the website of the Saudi stock exchange, fell short of a forecast of 341mn riyals from analysts at investment company Arqaam Capital.