RIYADH: Zaina Saudi Arabia’s revenues grew by 8 percent year-on-year to SAR 1.86 billion in the second quarter. Compared to SAR 1.92 billion in Q1, this is a slight decrease of 3 percent, which the company attributed to further subscriber rationalization after biometric registration initiatives, seasonality and lower handset sales. The company reached a net profit for a second consecutive quarter, at SAR 8 million, compared to net losses of SAR 328 million in Q2 2016.
The company recorded a significant 70 percent increase in EBITDA to reach SAR 632 million, with the EBITDA margin reaching 34 percent compared to 22 percent in Q2 2016. This improvement reflects the positive effects of management’s efforts in driving efficiencies and optimizing the company cost structure. A much-improved operational income of SAR 235 million was recorded compared to an operational loss of SAR 108 million in Q2 2016. Data services growth leveraging the 4.5G network, prudent management of operational costs and the effect of the fifteen-year license extension were the main contributing factors to the positive performance of the company, Zain said.
