Zain - Saudi Arabia

In less than eight months, mobile telecommunications operator Zain has made its mark in Saudi Arabia by securing more than two million customers, or seven percent market share. The company has also reported a 27 percent increase in projected revenues for the same period – not bad considering the operation was launched only months prior to the global markets meltdown.

From August 26 to December 31 2008, the company generated $135m gross revenues with $608m net losses, after factoring in 18 months of start up and operating costs. Still, with a healthy customer base, it appears Zain will have few problems clawing back its outlays.

When announcing the company’s KSA results in February, Zain Group chief executive Dr Saad Al Barrak said he was confident the Saudi market was stronger than most to withstand the global downturn. “With the robustness of the Saudi Arabian economy playing a decisive role, we are very confident that Zain Saudi Arabia will be a shining star among the Zain group of companies and we expect that the huge investments in the brand and network to date will see even better results for 2009 and beyond,” he said.