Riyadh – Mubasher: Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia (Zain) on Monday reported a 1500% year-on-year profit surge in the third quarter of 2018 after calculating Zakat and Tax.

Zain posted a net profit of SAR 48 million during Q3-18, up from SAR 3 million in Q3-17, according to a statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

The company attributed the third-quarter profit growth to an 8% increase in revenues that came from a rise in demand for the firm’s products and services, in addition to an increase by SAR 21 million in other income.

Zain’s revenues levelled up 8% to SAR 1.95 billion during the three-month period ended September, compared to SAR 1.80 billion in the year-ago period.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) significantly improved to SAR 728 million in Q3-18, making up 37% of revenues, compared with SAR 631 million during Q3-17, the statement added.

Year-on-year, operational profits rose to SAR 268 million by the end of September, from SAR 229 million.

During the first nine months of 2018, Zain turned to loss after incurring SAR 67 million, against a profit of SAR 57 million in the year-ago period.

The Tadawul-listed company attributed turning to loss in the nine-month period due to a 2% drop in revenues, while depreciation and amortisation rose by SAR 132 million.

Revenues fell 2% to SAR 5.48 million from January to September 2018, against SAR 5.59 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Zain’s stock inched up 0.83% to close Sunday’s trading session at SAR 6.09.