"Zain has achieved a significant milestone in its investment in the Saudi market in reaching the break-even point at the level of profit before interest on its murabaha loan, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA) for the second quarter of 2010, " a statement issued by the company said Saturday.

Financial results for the second quarter of the current financial year, 2010, exceeded expectations with revenue up 107 percent to more than SR1,450 million compared to SR702 million in Q2 2009 and a significant growth in gross profit, increasing by more than 357 percent to SR608 million compared to SR133 million in the second quarter of last year. Operational losses decreased by 55 percent to SR314 million, compared to SR706  million for the same period last year.

Confirming the financial results, Prince Husam bin Abdul Aziz, chairman of Zain Saudi, said performance during the second quarter demonstrated Zain's ability to position itself in the Saudi market, which is characterized by high levels of competition. He also said that the positive results reflect the creativity of Zain in its operational and marketing activities, which enabled the company to reach the milestone. He added that more than 7 million subscribers in less than 22 months clearly reflected the company's success.

Saad Al-Barak, Zain's chief executive officer and managing director, said the financial results for the second quarter reflected the developments and growth of the company. The period was full of achievements for Zain as it increased its market share, reduced the cost of local calls and significantly increased activities within its local network leading to a reduction in the net loss by more than 26 percent, at SR632 million compared to SR857 million in 2009.

Al-Barak noted that all of these factors combined led to the success in achieving break-even point at the EBITDA level during the second quarter of 2010, ahead of initial expectations.

He also mentioned that Zain Saudi decreased its operational costs and increased its revenues significantly by expanding its infrastructure and increasing its efficiency as well as offering unique and creative broadband services and creating attractive service packages. He said Zain will be looking to expand its network to cover 93 percent of the populated areas of the Kingdom by the end of 2010 -- which is part of "Phase B'' of its expansion plans.

Al-Barak added that Zain had expanded its international offering during this period by signing more than 735 agreements with various mobile service providers around the world, including voice, video and data roaming alongside broadband services.