Etihad Etisalat 'Mobily' announces its consolidated interim financial results

Gross profit amounted during the third quarter to SR2,986m, compared to SR2,472m for the corresponding quarter of the previous year, an increase of 21%.

Operating profit amounted during the third quarter to SR1,569m, compared to SR1,274m for the corresponding quarter of the previous year, an increase of 23%.

Net profit during the nine months amounted to SR4,140m, compared to SR3,386m for the same period of the previous year, an increase of 22%.

Earnings per share for the nine months amounted to SR5.91, compared to SR4.84 for the same period of the previous year. Gross profit for the nine months amounted to SR8,555m compared to SR7,239m for the same period of the previous year, an increase of 18%.

Operating profit during the nine months was SR4,290m against SR3,551m for the same period of the previous year; an increase of 21%. Revenues of the third quarter amounted to SR6,183m compared to SR4,640m for the corresponding quarter of the previous year; an increase of 33%, and compared to 5,678m for the previous quarter of the same year; an increase of 9%.

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Engineer Abdulaziz Saleh Alsaghyir, said, "The increase in revenue is attributable to the increased revenues of Data and Business Sectors and the increased sales of smartphones. Data revenues accounted for 26% of the Company's total revenue for the nine months. The business revenues increased during the nine months by 64% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Also, Post-paid revenues increased by 15% for the nine months period, compared to the same period of the previous year. The EBITDA amounted to 6,050m during the nine months compared to SR5,150m for the same period of the previous year, an increase of 17% (2,200m for the third quarter compared to SR1,813m for the corresponding quarter of the previous year, and compared to SR2,039m for the previous quarter)."

Alsaghyir added, "The prosperous economy of the Kingdom and growing government spending on projects, have led to increased business activities, something which improved the business sector revenues. Consequently, Mobily will be focusing on the business, information and communications technology (ICT), and data (fixed and mobile) sectors; besides, focusing on clinching partnership agreements with international companies. In this regard, Mobily has recently signed a partnership agreement with IBM for investment in the development of Data Security, Business Continuity and Cloud Computing services. This agreement, which comes with the business sectors focus on reducing costs and raising operational efficiency in order to increase productivity, will allow Mobily cooperating in and benefiting from IBM research. The two companies will jointly invest in building the Security Operations Center (SOC), the first of its kind in the Middle East region. Currently, Mobily has data centers in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and other cities, with plans to establish a number of new centers."

Alsaghyir indicated, "Broadband remains the most important source of growth for the Company in the short and medium terms. He also stressed the Company's leadership in LTE network, which covers, through its affiliate, Bayanat Al Oula for Network Services, 31 cities in the Kingdom. Alsaghyir continued to say that the company will continue to invest in its infrastructure capabilities in order to keep delivering growth in the medium and long term."

It should be mentioned that revenues from the fiber-optic and fourth-generation (LTE) services, had increased 46% during the nine months, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. In addition, the volume of mobile data traffic had increased in unprecedented way to 600 terabytes per day.

The company is continuing to develop the need for Fiber optic access to housing units and buildings (FTTH). The company will be also introducing (IPTV) services in the next period with speeds of 200Mbps. Moreover, the company has been working for more than one year now on implementing (Smart Networks) strategy, through analyzing the subscribers data usage pattern and behavior, and then implementing the right technology and techniques, in order to improve the network efficiency (Optimizing) on one hand, and returns (Monetizing of data/Connectivity) on the other hand.

Regarding the Hajj season, Alsaghyir stated that the Company infrastructure in Mecca and Medina and the holy places is able to meet the demands of all pilgrims, including the LTE services that are connected by a huge fiber network. Mobily has strengthened its presence in all places frequented by pilgrims, and through its points of sale and outlets spread all over the holy shrines and at land, sea and air ports as well as at Meqat areas.

Alsaghyir concluded by saying, "(Mobily) recently introduced the first package of its kind dedicated to the employees of the military sector in various institutions (Ministry of Defense, the National Guard and the Ministry of the Interior), and will be introducing a number of new packages which suit the lifestyle of the different segments of the community."

The Board of Directors , in its meeting held on 18/10/2012, approved the distribution of an initial dividends for the third quarter (three month period) of the year 2012 amounting to SR700m, at the rate of SR1.00 per share. This dividend represents 10% of the par value of the share, and will be paid to the registered shareholders of the company in the records of Tadawul at the closing of trading on Tuesday, dated 23 October, 2012. The disbursement of the dividends shall commence on Tuesday, dated 6 November, 2012.