Saudi Arabia’ telecommunication services sector’s profits increased by 11% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018, supported by strong financial results of Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia (Zain) and Saudi Telecom Company (STC).
Profits of three telecom firms listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), namely Zain, STC, and Etihad Etisalat Co (Mobily), amounted to SAR 2.66 billion during the three-month period ended September, up from SAR 2.4 billion in the year-ago period, according to Mubasher’s statistics based on the companies’ statements.
During the first nine months of 2018, the three companies’ profits grew 6%to SAR 7.4 billion, compared to SAR 7 billion in the same nine months a year earlier.
The Saudi telecommunication services sector comprises of four firms. The fiscal year of three of them ends in December, while Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication’s (Go) fiscal year finishes in March.
The telecom sector’s operational profits went up 15.3% to SAR 3.6 billion from July to September this year, compared to SAR 3.13 billion in the same period of 2017.
The sector’s operational profits rose 9.3% to SAR 9.7 billion in the nine-month period ended September, from SAR 8.87 billion in the corresponding period a year before.
STC acquired the largest profit of the Saudi telecom sector with SAR 2.64 billion during Q3-18, up from SAR 2.57 billion in Q3-17.
STC’s profit also rose 2.85% to SAR 7.76 billion in the first nine months of this year, compared to SAR 7.46 billion in the same period a year earlier.
Earlier on Monday, Saudi Zain stated that net profits skyrocketed 1500% to SAR 48 million during Q3-18, from SAR 3 million in Q3-17, while it turned to loss in the first nine months of 2018 after incurring SAR 67 million, against a profit of SAR 57 million during the same period last year.
Mobily previously reported trimming losses by 82.3% to SAR 31 million during Q3-18, compared to SAR 174.5 million during the same quarter in the year before, in addition to reducing losses by 61.5% to SAR 203 million in the January-September period of 2018, from SAR 527.2 million in the same period a year earlier.
By 2:09 pm Saudi time, Mobily’s stock rose 1.66% to SAR 17.16, followed by STC's stock with 0.47%, reaching SAR 85.90, and Zain's stock surged 8.05% to SAR 6.58.