Saudi's Mobily posts 49.7% rise in Q3 profits

PROFIT RISE: Mobily said it's Q3 profits are up on back of increase in broadband customers. (Getty Images)

Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), Saudi Arabia's second-biggest mobile operator, posted a better-than-expected 49.7 percent rise in net profit after adding more post-paid voice and broadband customers.

Mobily made a record SR807m ($215.2m) in the three months to September 30 against SR539m a year earlier, it said in a statement on the Saudi bourse website.

"The increase in the net profit during the third quarter stemmed from the continued steady increase in the number of post-paid telephone lines," Mobily said.

The firm also expanded to new cities the coverage of the third-generation network which "helped greatly to add new broadband and data subscribers".

Two analysts forecast Q3 profit of SR736.15m and SR684m, according to a Reuters survey.

Q3 earnings per share stood at SR2.8 compared with SR2.63 a year earlier. Operating profit rose 32 percent to SR862m in the three months ending September.

Mobily's competitors, Saudi Telecom Co (STC), the Arab world's biggest mobile firm by market value, and Zain Saudi Arabia are expected to post results later this week.

Mobily's stock is up some 31 percent so far this year which is about double the year-to-date performance of the telecom's industry's index but slightly below the all-share index.

Emirates Telecommunications holds a 27.4-percent stake in Mobily. (Reuters)

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