JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) has halted trading in Mobily until it gets a response from the telecom operator on the likely impact on its earnings from an initial regulatory report examining accounting irregularities.

The CMA, which made the announcement via a bourse statement, has been investigating Mobily after the firm stunned investors by slashing 18 months of previously announced profits last November.

CMA investigators conducted site visits, interviewed “concerned parties” and obtained documents before submitting a report on Mobily’s financial statements to the company on Monday, the statement said.

The authority instructed Mobily to determine the impact the CMA’s observations would have on its financial statements.

It was not clear if this meant past or future earnings.

The stock will remain suspended until Mobily responds, the statement added.

Mobily, part-owned by Etisalat, also reported a fourth-quarter loss, revised its 2014 earnings to a loss from a prior-declared profit and made a further loss in the first quarter.