Riyadh – Mubasher: Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia (Zain) on Monday reported a loss of SAR 77 million ($20.53 million) in the three-month period ended March 2018, against a profit of SAR 45 million ($21 million) in the year-ago period.

Quarter-on-quarter, Zain's losses surged 71.1%, according to the company’s filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

The telecom operator attributed the negative turn into its financials to a drop in its revenues, which amounted to SAR 233 million in Q1-18, in addition to the increase in depreciation and amortisation.

The Tadawul-listed firm also ascribed its losses to an increase in other expenses after putting the value-added tax (VAT) into effect, according to the statement.

For the full-year 2017, Zain’s profits declined 12% to SAR 1.92 billion, against a loss of SAR 979 million a year earlier.

By the end of Monday’s session, Zain’s stock went down 0.5% to SAR 8.04.