Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), a leading telecom services operator in Saudi Arabia, has achieved growth in its quarterly sales for the first time in two years, realising cash flows of SR1.4 billion ($346 million), despite the net loss.

Announcing its Q4 and annual results for the year 2017, Mobily said the company witnessed solid growth in revenues for the first time in two years which hit SR2.82 billion compared to SR2.8 billion the previous quarter.

The full year 2017 results witnessed a decrease in revenues which fell to SR11.5 billion from SR12.56 billion in 2016, due to the general economic changes and the various regulatory changes in the telecommunications sector.

Throughout 2017, Mobily enhanced its Operational Cash Flow (ebitda-capex), whereas it amounted to SR1.37 billion in FY 2017, compared to SR857 million in FY 2016, with an increase of 61 per cent despite the decrease in revenues and net losses.

Mobily also has succeeded in increasing its operational efficiency by reducing various expenses and achieving savings as a result of the renegotiation of some contracts, which enabled it to slightly increase its ebitda from SR903 million in Q3 2017 to SR911 million in Q4 2017, while maintaining a stable level of ebitda, slightly decreasing from 32.1 per cent in 2017 compared to 32.4 per cent in 2016.

Mobily's net results of 2017 showed losses at SR708.9 million in compared with losses of SR213.6 million for the same period last year, mainly due to the decrease in sales by SR1.2 billion, triggered by pressure from the general economic changes and the various regulatory changes in the telecommunications sector.

As part of its efforts to maintain a stable financing structure, Mobily has been able to reduce its debt to creditors by SR1.3 billion, which has significantly improved the company's financial position compared to the previous years, it added.-TradeArabia News Service