Kuwait-based telecom operator Zain on Wednesday announced robust first quarter growth with its net income soaring 40 per cent to KD69.9 million ($251.1 million) compared to the same period last year.

Announcing the consolidated financial results for the quarter ended March 31, Zain said its revenues for the period soared to KD324.4 million ($1.163 billion), reflecting a positive 1 per cent increase comapred to last year.

The company’s consolidated Ebitda reached KD147.7 million ($529.7 million) up 10 per cent on Q1-2010, reflecting an Ebitda margin of 46 per cent (up 4 percentage points) with Ebit of KD105.9 million ($379.9 million), a 10 per cent increase over last year. The earnings per share reached 18 fils ($0.06).
 
The regional telecom operator said there was a 20 per cent growth in its customer base which soared to 37.6 million.

Commenting on the results, Asaad Al Banwan, chairman of Zain board, said these impressive results justify the many prudent decisions recently adopted by the board and the executive management.

'The company has re-engineered itself, focusing on maximising shareholders’ value while at the same time providing customers with a wonderful mobile experience. The impressive 40 per cent net income growth and earnings per share of 19 fils, coupled with customer growth of 20 per cent, indicates we on the right track,' he added.
 
Al Banwan also pointed out that despite intense competition on various levels across all the markets and adverse currency fluctuations, the company maintained relatively stable revenue levels.

Accordding to him, the net profit for the quarter was adversely affected by currency fluctuations of an amount of $84 million, which was partially offset by an adjustment and reversal of provisions related to executive management entitlements during the quarter.  
 
The chairman also revealed that the quarter witnessed an increase in total shareholders’ equity of approximately 12 per cent, reaching KD2.695 billion ($9.748 billion), compared to KD2.51 billion ($8.72 billion) at the end of the first quarter of 2010.

Zain Group CEO Nabeel Bin Salamah said the operational efficiency drive implemented over the past 12 months has resulted in healthy growth of several key indicators.

'Additionally we are reaping the rewards of our extensive investments in network technology upgrades across all our country operations, and we expect such progress to continue for the foreseeable future,' he observed.
 
Bin Salamah said the company is seeking to further increase market leadership in key markets by delivering customers the latest innovative technologies and quality mobile services.-TradeArabia News Service