Saudi telco Mobily reports 32% jump in second-quarter profit as revenue grows

Company makes profit of $65m after revenue increases 5% to about $988m

Saudi telecoms company Mobily attributed revenue growth to a rise in business and consumer proceeds and an expanded fibre base. Courtesy Mobily

Saudi telecoms company Etihad Etisalat, better known as Mobily, has reported a 32 per cent increase in second-quarter profit on the back of higher revenue as the Arab world’s largest economy recovers from the coronavirus-induced slowdown.

Net profit after zakat and tax for the period ending June 30 rose to 244 million Saudi riyals ($65m), the company said in a statement on Monday to the kingdom's Tadawul stock exchange, where its shares are traded. Revenue during the period climbed 5 per cent year-on-year to 3.7 billion riyals ($987.9m).

“Mobily continued to grow its revenues for the second quarter of 2021 … mainly attributed to the growth in business unit revenues, the improvement in consumer revenues and the growth of FTTH [fibre-to-the-home] active base,” the company said.

The UAE's biggest telecom operator Etisalat owns a 28 per cent stake in Mobily, which was founded in 2004.

Mobily’s net profit in the first-half of 2021 jumped 49 per cent to 470m riyals as revenue climbed 2.4 per cent to 7.3bn riyals. Financial charges during the period slid 17.57 per cent to 248m riyals.

Capital expenditure in the first-half dropped to 425m riyals, from more than 1bn riyals, during the same period last year.

The results were "broadly in-line" Al Rajhi Capital's expectations.

“We believe that the low-margin business segment is likely to have contributed to the bulk of the top-line growth while core consumer segment remains mostly saturated with no material increase in subscribers,” said Al Rajhi.

With tourism and travel being limited in the country due to Covid-19 restrictions, Al Rajhi expects “current top-line run-rate and Ebitda margins to continue at current levels”.