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Mobily posts Q2 net loss on Zain dispute

Dubai - Mobily said the quarterly loss was largely due to it taking an additional provision of 800 million riyals relating to claims against Zain Saudi.

Saudi Arabia's Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), which last week slashed 27 months of profits, swung to a second quarter net loss on Sunday that missed forecasts as it took provisions relating to a dispute with rival telecom operator Zain Saudi.
Mobily, an affiliate of the UAE's etisalat, made a net loss of 900.9 million riyals ($240.2 million) in the three months to June 30, it said in a bourse statement.
This compares with a profit of 92.5 million riyals in the prior-year period.
Analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast that Mobily, which competes with the Gulf's No. 1 operator Saudi Telecom Co. and Zain Saudi, would make a quarterly loss of 633 million riyals.
Mobily said the quarterly loss was largely due to it taking an additional provision of 800 million riyals relating to claims against Zain Saudi. This dispute is in arbitration.
In the second quarter, Mobily also paid additional taxes and its depreciation costs rose. Combined, these totalled 126 million riyals.
The firm's revenue for the three months to June 30 was 3.57 billion riyals, which is flat year-on-year.
On Thursday, Mobily restated its results for the 27 months to March 31, slashing total profits over the period by nearly 1.76 billion riyals in its latest attempt to resolve an accounting scandal.
The company had attributed its woes to the premature booking of revenue from wholesale broadband leases and mobile promotional campaigns and it has also made further changes to the way it accounts for some contracts and the depreciation of property and equipment.
Mobily's shares have been suspended since June, pending its response to a regulator investigation. The stock is down 58 per cent since the accounting scandal broke, wiping about $9.4 billion off the company's value.
Mobily's earnings restatements have also put it in breach of loan covenants and it remains in talks with lenders to agree new terms on its outstanding borrowings, it said in Sunday's bourse statement.