MyAdhan Blog

Link: Kuwait: Zain’s customer base swells 56% to 42 million in 2007

Mobile Telecommunications Co (Zain), the third-largest Arab telecom operator by market value, posted its second straight quarterly profit growth in the fourth quarter as it added new users across the region. Kuwait-based Zain posted a 3.9 percent rise in profit to KD 85.33 million ($312.7 million) in the three months to Dec 31, compared with KD 82.14 million a year earlier, Reuters calculated from full-year data the company released. The quarterly profit beat one of two analyst forecasts in a Reuters survey last month of KD 96.91 million and KD 79.60 million. Zain, which has revised its 2006 profits, made KD 320.45 million or 172 fils per share in 2007, up 8.6 percent from 2006, the company said in a statement carried by state news agency KUNA. Growth in the full year was driven by a 29.3 percent rise in revenue to KD 1.68 billion as total subscribers in the Middle East and Africa hit almost 40 million, it said. Zain had more than 36 million customers on Sept 30, indicating a net addition of about 4 million in the three-month period. The company said it was proposing a 2007 cash dividend of 90 fils per share and a bonus share issue of one free share for every two held by investors.Zain said last month it would raise its capital by 75 percent by selling shares to existing investors, aiming to raise around $4.4 billion to finance expansion overseas as competition grows in its home market. Zain, which operates in about 20 countries in the Middle East and Africa, has been seeking investment opportunities abroad to counter tough competition at home, where Saudi Telecom Co won a bid to set up a third mobile phone firm. It also competes with National Mobile Telecommunications Co (Wataniya) at home. Zain had reported a decline in profit in the second quarter for the first time in at least two years because of tougher competition in African nations such as Sudan. Zain recorded consolidated revenues of $5.91 billion (KD 1.677 billion) for 2007, an increase of 32 percent compared to 2006. The consolidated EBITDA increased by 25 percent compared to last year and reached $2.56 billion (KD 725.34 million). Zain also announced a milestone consolidated net income of $1.130 million (KD 320.45 million) as compared to $1.015 million (KD 294.98 million) in 2006 an increase of 11 percent. Earnings per share stood at $0.61 (172 fils) as against $0.55 (159 fils) in the prior year period, an upsurge of 11 percent.