Indebted telecom operator Zain Saudi reported a narrower second-quarter loss on Tuesday, in line with analyst forecasts, as revenue rose and financing costs fell.

Saudi Arabia's No.3 mobile company, 37-per cent owned by Kuwait's Zain, made a net loss of 370 million riyals ($98.7 million) in the three months to June 30, it said in a bourse statement. That compares with a net loss of 394 million riyals in the prior-year period.

Analysts polled by Reuters on average forecast Zain Saudi would make a quarterly loss of 374 million riyals.

The company has multi-billion dollar debts and has yet to make a quarterly profit since launching operations in 2008.

Zain Saudi agreed a deal with the government in June that would allow it to defer payment of licence-related fees, which could total around $1.49 billion over seven years.

Quarterly revenue was 1.71 billion riyals, up from 1.57 billion riyals a year ago.

Zain this increase "resulted from the increased number of subscribers", but did not give further details.

It said financing costs in the second quarter were 174 million riyals, down 21 per cent on the corresponding period of last year. - Reuters