The trading of shares in major Saudi telecommunications firm Mobily have reportedly been suspended after a major financing debacle.
Mobily, formally called Etihad Etisalat, announced on Wednesday it had removed chief executive Khalid Al Kaf, who had been suspended since November pending an investigation into accounting practices at the company.
Earlier that month, it slashed its profits for 2013 and the first half of 2014 by a combined SAR1.43 billion ($381 million) because of what it said were accounting errors.
The earnings restatement prompted the bourse regulator, the Capital Market Authority, to launch an investigation into Mobily, while the company itself began its own probe as it suspended Kaf.
Later on Wednesday, Saudi Stock Exchange, otherwise known as the Tadawul, said it had suspended trading in Mobily’s shares, according to Saudi Gazette.
Arabian Business could not immediately confirm the suspension because the Tadawul website is down. It has not been reported elsewhere or announced on Tadawul’s social media platforms.
The suspension would run “until Mobily discusses the reasons that led to a net loss amounting to SR913 million”, the Capital Market Authority said in a statement, according to Saudi Gazette.
Mobily has put his deputy Serkan Okandan in charge on an acting basis, Reuters reported. Okandan is also chief financial officer of Abu Dhabi-listed Etisalat, which owns 27.5 percent of Mobily. He has a mandate to remain at the helm until at least the end of March.
The timing of the reported suspension is sensitive, as Riyadh prepares to open up its stock market, the largest Arab bourse, to direct foreign investment this year.
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