MyAdhan Blog

Link: Saudi Telecom Second-Quarter Profit Rises 24% on Investments
Another Link: STC net profit rises 24pc on higher income
Another Link: Saudi telecom net second quarter profit up by 24 percent to $1.02 billion

Saudi Telecom Co., the Arab world’s largest phone company, said second-quarter profit increased 24 percent on overseas investment gains. Net income climbed to 3.84 billion riyals ($1 billion) from 3.10 billion riyals a year earlier, the Riyadh-based company said today in a filing to the Saudi stock exchange. Earnings per share for the quarter weren’t provided. First-half profit rose 18 percent to 6.86 billion riyals, Saudi Telecom also said in the filing. The company’s board agreed to pay a one riyal per share cash dividend for the second quarter. Saudi Telecom has expanded outside Saudi Arabia to counter a shrinking home market as a new competitor, Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co., or Zain, plans to start full operations in the second half. It also bought mobile-phone license in Kuwait and a 25 percent interest in Malaysia’s Maxis Communications Bhd. The Maxis stake gives Saudi Telecom access to 1.4 billion people in Asia and enables it to provide roaming services to at least 1.5 million Indians working in Saudi Arabia. In January, Saudi Telecom paid $2.56 billion for a 35 percent stake in the United Arab Emirates’s Oger Telecom Ltd., gaining access to customers in Turkey and South Africa. Saudi Telecom shares gained 2.9 percent to 61.25 riyals in Riyadh today, valuing the company at 122.5 billion riyals. The stock has declined 27 percent this year.