Zain KSA has revealed its fiscal results for 2020 which showcases a steady achievement of net profits for the 4th consecutive year. In Q4 of 2020, the company secured SAR 2,061 million in total revenues compared to SAR 1,928 million for Q3 2020, with a growth rate of 6.90%.
These results are a testament to the success of Zain KSA’s operational strategy and its attainment of a balanced financial approach that comes in line with a comprehensive capital restructuring, in addition to continually implementing our operational strategy based on reducing operational costs and enhancing fiscal governance in spite of the challenges imposed by the global coronavirus outbreak that has impacted all companies and sectors.
In this context, Prince Naif bin Sultan Al Kabeer, Board of Director’s Chairman at Zain KSA stated: “2020’s fiscal results underscore the outstanding success of Zain KSA’s strategy which aims to benefit its shareholders on one side while developing the national ICT sector on the other. This strategy has allowed our company to achieve continued profitability in the last 3 years, thus, overcoming the major challenges faced by all sectors due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The same strategy also enabled Zain KSA in achieving quality investments regardless of the hurdles, and empowered it to make bold financial decisions including capital restructuring to increase investments and enhance the quality of services provided to customers while increasing their reach and accessibility. As for our investments in human capital, we have given utmost priority to women empowerment, whereby Zain KSA is the first and only telco operator in the Kingdom to appoint women in leadership executive positions, in addition to hiring women in senior leadership roles raising the percentage to 70% compared to 2019, and 50% more female employees in 2020 compared to the previous year. In addition, we are delighted to report our fiscal results in parallel with being certified as “Band A” credit score as declared by “SIMAH Reliability and Predictivity” as one of the highest credit scores, it reflects the company’s advanced financial capabilities and low investment risks, and highlights its positive outlook owing to a robust strategic plan and operational capacity supported by cash flows and growing revenues that will boost its ability to meet future financial requirements and grow its market share.”
On his end, CEO at Zain KSA Eng. Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Deghaither said that “The company’s financial results for 2020 are the result of its unique investments that have enabled it to attain the largest and fastest network in the Kingdom as recognized by local, regional, and global entities. The 5G network, which today covers 50 cities via more than 4700 towers, will be further expanded through an ambitious investment plan aiming to cover the entirety of the Kingdom. Moreover, on the social front, and especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zain KSA was honored to serve its valued society through more than 13 humanitarian initiatives that encompassed 30 thousand free subscriptions for students, in addition to supporting remote learning and quarantined individuals, among others. Moreover, the launch of Zain KSA’s Business services also comprised a large chunk of our achievements for 2020, and encompassed the introduction of Zain KSA’s fintech arm “Tamam” which provides micro-financing services to consumers across the Kingdom, and “Zain Cloud” targeting business and government sectors in partnership with AliBaba Cloud, one of the world’s leading cloud computing entities. We will continue our digital service investments, for it will be a drive for us to offer improved and more innovative telecommunications and internet services as well as 5G applications and used cases which will open tremendous opportunities in many areas from artificial intelligence (AI) to Internet of Things (IoT) which will benefit everyone, from e-gamers to companies and government agencies. We are certain that, through the company’s strategy, paired with the high capabilities and qualifications of our employees, and the loyalty of our customers, will result in even greater achievements in 2021 contributing to our vision of becoming the digital service provider of choice in Saudi Arabia.”
He added: “We will continue to build on these achievements to offer upgraded, world-class services. We will also expand the reach of our 5G network with plans to increase speeds and provide the best possible experience to users, especially after becoming the first operator in the world to offer 5G carrier aggregation for ultra-fast internet speed of up to 2.4 Gbps. We will also pursue higher levels of transparency and credibility in regards to our 5G network coverage, and will follow up on strong liaison ties with all sectors relevant to the telecommunications and internet industries to unify our efforts in driving the Kingdom towards leading digital competitiveness ranks globally.”
Notably, Zain KSA accomplished a series of milestones during 2020, placing it in the forefront of the industry with several local, regional, and global industry recognitions. It secured first place within “Meqyas” report published by the Communications and Information Technology Commission for the fourth quarter of 2020, as the fastest fixed internet in the Kingdom, and the largest 5G network coverage across the Kingdom.
Globally, Zain KSA was awarded by Opensignal, the independent global standard for analyzing consumer mobile experience, three awards: “Best 5G Availability”, “Best Download Speed Experience - 5G Users”, and “Best 5G Download Speed.” Similarly, Zain KSA won the SpeedTest award for the “fastest fixed network” in the Kingdom from globally acclaimed Ookla for the year 2020. Additionally, it also received three awards at the 2020 Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit, which include: “Best 5G Infrastructure Deployment,” “Best 5G User Growth,” and “Best Cloud Provider.”