"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.
