Mobily's net profit jumps by half

Gross profits for Q3 reached SR1.982bn, and increase of 26% over 2008's Q3, which stood at SR1.573bn.

Q3's operational profits were at SR862m, rising by 32% over the same period of 2008, at the end of which they had reached SR651m after rescheduling.

With these results, Mobily's net profits for the first nine months of fiscal 2009 amount to SR1.962bn, an increase of 49% over the same period of last year, which had seen the achievement of SR1.314bn.

Gross profits for the first nine months reached SR5.432bn, with a 29% increase over the SR4.223bn of same period of last year. Operational profits were at SR2.123bn, 31% better than the SR1.615bn of the same period last year.

Based on these results, profit per share for the first nine months of 2009 was SR2.80, significantly better than SR2.63 in the same period of 2008, even though Mobily had increased its shares from 500 million to 700 million during the fourth quarter of 2008.

Mobily attributed the increases in profit to the runaway popularity of postpaid lines, as well as the vast expansion of 3.5G coverage, which spread to numerous new cities and towns, which attracted many more customers to Mobily's broadband and data services.

Engineer Abdulaziz Al Saghyir, Mobily's Chairman, said that Mobily's agile responses to competition, especially with a third newcomer to the national market, as well as its comprehensive array of services, helped Mobily succeed in both voice and data services. Mobily was further helped by competitive pricing and the superior quality of service and pioneering new services.

Al Saghyir added that Mobily is fully prepared for the upcoming Hajj season, which will see a quantum leap in the quality of all its services.

He pointed out that Bayanat Al-Oula's latest WiMax expansion project will see 20 more cities covered compared to only 4 today, which is part of a nationwide plan to get broadband to every town in the Kingdom and boost capacity in cities that enjoy existing coverage.