Kuwait's largest mobile-phone operator said that its plans to list 25% of its shares on the Iraqi Stock Exchange by July 2013 have been delayed until he end of the year.
Mobile Telecommunication Co., Zain said in a statement briefed by "Shafaq News" that "The formation of the joint stock exchange company is taking longer than expected due to local governmental procedures".
"There was never a deadline, it's only expectations. We hope that it will be completed by the second half of this year, but it will depend on how long it will take for the procedures to be concluded," the statement added
On February, Zain announced that it plans to list 25% of its shares on the Iraq Stock Exchange by the end of the first half of the year as the nation's biggest mobile-phone operator follows a $1.3 billion initial public offering by Qatar Telecom QSC's Iraqi unit.
Zain Iraq is in the final stages to convert into a shareholding company. The company's profit climbed 6% in 2012 and it expects double-digit growth this year.
The telecommunications industry in Iraq will continue to grow, even at a slower pace, after registering a rate of 12% last year compared with 17% in 2009.
© Shafaq News 2013
