Zain Group posts KD 154 mln in '15 profits

KUWAIT, Feb 10 (KUNA) -- Zain Group, a leading mobile telecom innovator in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, generated revenues of KD 1.14 billion (USD 3.8 billion) and recorded net income of KD 154 million (USD 513 million) for full-year 2015.
The Board of Directors of Zain Group recommended a cash dividend of 30 Fils (USD 0.10) per share subject to the Annual General Assembly and regulatory approvals. Additionally, shareholders' equity stood at KD 1.54 billion (USD 5.09 billion), the group said in a statement on Wednesday.
For the fourth quarter of 2015, Zain Group recorded consolidated revenues of KD 283 million (USD 933 million), a decline of 3% on the same period of the previous year (Q-o-Q), it said.
EBITDA for the quarter reached KD 127 million (USD 418 million), up 7% Q-o-Q, reflecting a healthy EBITDA margin of 45%. Net income for the quarter reached KD 36 million (USD 119 million), up 8% Q-o-Q, reflecting Earnings Per Share of 9 Fils (USD 0.03), it added.
Commenting on the results, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zain Group Asaad Al Banwan said the Board is working closely with the executive management to overcome the many challenging socio-economic factors in a number of markets, particularly with regard to the social unrest in Iraq and the intense price competition in Kuwait.
"The positive performances in Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan underline that the company's strategy is fundamentally sound in driving the business forward and we shall continue managing the highly changeable environments we face in a pragmatic and effective manner," he said.
He continued: "We have invested significantly in 3G / 4G network expansion upgrades and spectrum licence fees across all our markets in order to improve the mobile experience for our customers. Our investments in capital expenditure reached USD 797 million (excluding Zain Saudi Arabia) which represents 21% of our revenues, reflecting Zain's commitment to innovation and quality of service," he added.
On his part, Zain Group CEO, Scott Gegenheimer said: "Zain Group remains resilient to the wider challenges facing a number of its markets, and the region in general. It is unfortunate that some factors outside of our control have impacted overall performance for the year considering the sound operational progress and transformation we have undertaken across all our markets." He voiced pleasure with the progress of the group's data monetization initiatives, and expressed confidence from the growth in the uptake of data services, which now account for 20% of overall service revenues, and the Group will continue to foster and develop this key area of the business.
"Furthermore, our efficiency and optimization initiatives are producing tangible positive results reflected in our improving EBITDA margin of 44% and 45% for the full-year and fourth quarter respectively," he said.
He continued: "However, we have incurred an additional amortization cost of USD 52 million on 3G and 4G spectrum licence fees in two key markets which impacted our bottom line for the year. We do still draw encouragement from our overall performance in the fourth quarter of 2015, which saw EBITDA and net income increasing 7% and 8% Q-o-Q respectively." (end) fnk.msa.mt