Saudi Arabia's Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), which is under investigation by the bourse regulator for insider trading and share price manipulation, missed forecasts as it swung to a SR199 million ($53 million) net loss in the first quarter.

The loss comes after the company restated 18 months of earnings covering 2013 and 2014 and then posted a huge loss in the final quarter of last year.

The No. 2 telecom operator in the kingdom has been hit by accounting errors related to the excessive booking of revenue from wholesale broadband leases and mobile promotional campaigns.

The company on Tuesday blamed its latest loss on a SR250 million rise in depreciation expenses, a further provision of 133 million riyals to cover customer payments it was doubtful about receiving, as well as lower overall revenue.

Mobily, an affiliate of the United Arab Emirates' Etisalat , made a net profit of SR1.61 billion in the prior-year period, it said in a statement.

The first-quarter earnings fell short of estimates of two analysts, who forecast Mobily, which competes with Saudi Telecom Co and Zain Saudi, would make a quarterly profit of SR470.1 million and SR515 million.

The company reiterated an earlier commitment to meeting its debt obligations, which amounted to SR15.8 billion at the end of March.

Mobily said in March it did not expect to meet a net-debt-to-Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) covenant as of last December 31 under its long-term financing facilities with various lenders.

Discussions with lenders about a reset of the covenant were ongoing and were expected to be finalised during the second quarter of 2015, it said.

In November, Mobily cut its profits for 2013 and the first half of 2014 by a combined 1.43 billion riyals, citing accounting errors, and also reported a 71 per cent drop in third-quarter profit.

Mobily's actions prompted the bourse regulator to launch a probe. It said it was investigating Mobily for insider trading and share price manipulation.

Mobily shares are down 49 per cent since its earnings restatement.-Reuters