Beirut (APD) - Shares of SyriaTel Mobile Telecom continued their upward drive as the company braces itself to get listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). SyriaTel's share was traded at SP 785 ($14.95) at the end of last week, up from the IPO price of SP 400 at the end of 2004, an increase of 96.25%, the Kuwaiti-based daily Al-Rai Al-Aam reported Thursday.
Earlier in July, Majda Sakr, chief commercial officer of SyriaTel, said that the Syrian GSM operator plans to list its shares on the Dubai Stock Exchange this summer but a confirmed date was not provided.
"The improvement in SyriaTel's share price is due to the announcement by the company of healthy results for the first half of 2005," sources from SyriaTel told Al-Rai Al-Aam.
"It is also due to the unveiling of substantial acquisitions of SyriaTel's shares by Arab businessmen from Saudi Arabia, UAE and the Kuwait United Investment Company (KUIC)," the source said.
Sakr said that listing on Dubai Stock Exchange would "allow the shares to trade more widely before listing on the Syrian bourse that the government has plans for by year-end."
Earnings per share (EPS) soared by 98% to reach SP 52.28 (approximately $1) in the first half of 2005 compared with SP 26.41 the same period of last year.
"The total revenues of SyriaTel increased by 49% in the first half of 2005 compared with the same period of last year and gross profits soared by 55% while net profits skyrocketed by 121% for the same period," a source who wished to remain anonymous told the daily.
"The contract we signed with the Syrian authorities expires in 2017...We will hand over then the equipment and the towers to the Syrian government but SyriaTel will remain as an entity," the source said.
The company boasts more than 11,000 shareholders. Ahmad Al-Dhahiri vice-chairman of the UAE-based Ali and Sons Company signed a deal recently with SyriaTel to acquire 5% of its shares.
A Saudi information systems group also bought a sizable stake of SyriaTel. The source said "Ahmad Al-Dhahiri and a Saudi businessman were elected as new members in SyriaTel's board in last August."
Syria has two mobile operators at present, SyriaTel and Spacetel Syria Areeba with around 3 million subscribers equally divided between the two companies. According to official statistics the number of subscribers was 2.4 million by the end of 2004. [FC]
By Shikrallah Nakhoul
© APD (Arab Press Digest) 2005
