Zain Group, the leading mobile operator across the Middle East and Africa recorded consolidated revenues of USD 912 million in the second quarter of 2016, down 3% compared to the same period a year ago. The company ended the period serving 45.2 million customers. Zain Group consolidated revenues for the first six months of the year was USD 1.83 billion, down 2% year-on-year.
Consolidated data revenues (excluding SMS and VAS) for the group however witnessed a 7% growth year-on-year, with data now constituting 22% of the Group’s total revenues. Zain Sudan and Zain Saudi Arabia enjoyed impressive data revenue growth of 44% and 57% respectively.
As for its operations in Iraq, the continued civil instability and implementation of a 20% sales tax on mobile services, as well as wide-ranging tax increases on other sectors in the country affected spending on mobile services, impacting Zain Iraq’s operational results and consequently the Group’s overall key financial metrics.
Asaad Al Banwan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zain Group
It is pleasing to report growth in several of our key financial metrics for the second quarter and six-month 2016 periods given that Zain Group is exposed to conflict zones and currency fluctuations that continue to impact the growth potential of our business.
Scott Gegenheimer, CEo, Zain Group CEO
The effectiveness of our data monetization initiatives and cost optimization drive in such challenging conditions across several of our key markets has been reflected in our improved results for the second quarter and six-month periods of 2016, outperforming our peers across many of our country operations.
