Zain Group, a leading mobile telecommunications provider with operations in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, recorded a flat net income of KD82 million ($270 million) for the first six months of 2017.
Zain Group generated a consolidated revenue of KD508 million ($1.67 billion) down 8 percent for the first half of the year. The company ended the period serving 45.2 million customers. The company said it loss $305 million in revenue and $58 million in net income due to 61 per cent currency devaluation in Sudan.
For the second quarter, Zain Group recorded consolidated revenues of KD261 million ($860 million), down 5 per cent compared to the same period in the previous year.
EBITDA for the quarter reached KD104 million ($344 million), down 21 percent year on year, reflecting an EBITDA margin of 40 per cent. Net income for the quarter amounted to KD44 million ($145 million), down 2 percent.
Key Operational Notes for H1 2017:
- Launch and expansion of high-speed 4.5G LTE networks across key markets saw Zain Group data revenues (excluding SMS and VAS) increase 4% Y-o-Y, representing 25% of the Group’s consolidated revenues.
- Zain Saudi Arabia’s turnaround and cost optimization program, combined with network upgrades and new data monetization initiatives bolstered key financial indicators
- The significant currency devaluation impact in Sudan at the beginning of November 2016 negatively affected Zain Group’s H1 and Q2 2017 financial results.
- Intense price competition in Kuwait coupled with additional operational costs in network expansion and upgrades hampered the operation and consequently Zain Group’s overall financial metrics.
- Zain launched iflix, the leading Streaming Video on Demand (SVoD) service for emerging markets, across several markets. This follows the announcement earlier in the year that Zain and iflix had formed a joint venture entity named ‘iflix Arabia’.
Mohannad Al-Kharafi, Chairman, Zain Group
The company’s performance in the first half has been satisfactory given the various operational and forex challenges we face across our footprint. It is our focus on innovation, customer service, and the driving of efficiencies that allows us to consistently deliver strong operational results and maintain our leadership position in the majority of our markets.
Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi, Vice-Chairman and Group CEO, Zain
The first six-months of 2017 produced some defining positive developments such as the progress being achieved through the turnaround program in Saudi Arabia and robust growth in our data monetisation, Enterprise (B2B), and smart city initiatives in several key markets.
