Zain Saudi Q4 revenue increases by over 93% to SR1.73 billion

Zain Saudi Q4 revenue increases by over 93% to SR1.73 billion

Operating Loss Reduced by more than 58% Gross Profit increased by 132% and exceeds SR825 Million Subscribers base exceeds 8 Million .

January 21, 2011 11:38 by Rasha Reslan

Zain Saudi announced today significantly higher revenue for the 2010 fourth quarter with an increase of 93% to SR1728 million, compared to reported revenue of SR895 million for the fourth quarter of 2009.

Gross profit increased by 132% to SR826 million, compared to SR356 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. Operating losses for the fourth quarter decreased significantly by 58% to SR179 million compared to losses of SR435 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. Net loss for the period saw an improvement of 21% to SR521 million compared to a net loss of SR657 million for the fourth quarter of 2009.

His Royal Highness Prince Dr. Husam bin Saud bin Abdul Aziz, Chairman of Zain Saudi, said: “ The fourth quarter results for Zain Saudi show a number of positive signals for the company’s future and they demonstrate Zain Saudi’s continuing ability to differentiate itself in the Saudi market.’’

“These positives are due to the efforts of the Zain team. Their creativity and efficiency has built a strategic base for the company to grow significantly. The ability to grow the returns more than expected demonstrates Zain Saudi’s continuing ability to differentiate itself in the highly competitive and saturated Saudi communications market. ”

The chairman also noted that Zain’s subscribers base exceeded 8 million by the end of December 2010, which signals the trust of the customers.

Dr. Saad Al Barak, CEO and Managing Director said, “Our financial results for the fourth quarter isanother achievement for Zain Saudi, and it proves Zain’s ability to meet its objectives in a timely manner. The continuous improvement of the revenues during the fourth quarter and the continuous decrease of the operational losses demonstrates Zain’s ability and its position at the market.’’

The Zain CEO also mentioned that Zain Saudi have reached another milestone by reaching the break-even point at the level of profit before interest on its Murabaha loan, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA) for the year ended 2010 ahead of initial expectations.