Tuesday, Apr 17, 2012

(Adds chairman comments in paragraph eight and nine and background in paragraph 11.)

DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Saudi Arabia's Etihad Etisalat Co. (7020.SA), better known as Mobily, Monday posted a rise in first-quarter net profit of 21% on the year on higher revenue from voice services.

In a statement posted on the Saudi bourse website, Saudi Arabia's No. 2 telecommunications firm by market capitalization said net profit reached 1.2 billion Saudi riyals ($312.9 million), compared with SAR998 million a year earlier.

Bahrain-based SICO had expected Mobily to record a net profit of SAR1.15 billion, while analysts at Cairo-based Beltone Financial had forecast SAR1.41 billion.

"The increase in revenue is attributable to the higher revenue from voice services with the increase in the number of minutes of use, the continued increase in the number of postpaid subscribers and the increase in business sector revenue," the company said.

Earnings per share for the three months period totaled SAR1.72, up from SAR1.43 a year earlier, while first-quarter operating income rose 19% on the year to SAR1.3 billion, Mobily said.

Mobily said revenue of the first quarter reached SAR5 billion, a rise of 12% on the year from SAR4.5 billion in last year's first quarter.

Data revenue increased 28% on the year during the quarter, representing 23% of the total revenue of the first quarter, the company said.

Abdulaziz Saleh Alsaghyir, Mobily's chairman, said in the statement that the company will focus on partnerships and agreements to continue its growth over the medium-to-long term.

Alsaghyir added that as part having more diverse revenue streams, Mobily will collaborate with Saudi Arabia's fixed line operator Etihad Atheeb Telecom, or GO, to provide fixed voice services to a number of commercial and residential complexes, which will be agreed upon in due course.

Mobily, which is 27.4% owned by Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (ETISALAT.AD), is employing networks that run on long-term evolution technology, which allows high-speed data transfers, to cope with rampant growth in data traffic from smart phones.

Mobily in February said it has signed a SAR10 billion an Islamic refinancing agreement with seven local banks for three of Mobily 's loans.

Mobily shares closed almost flat Monday at SAR65.50.

-By Shereen El Gazzar, Dow Jones Newswires; +971 444 61684; Shereen.elgazzar@dowjones.com

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

16-04-12 1946GMT