Riyadh – Mubasher: Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) on Monday reported narrowing its losses in 2016 compared to figures released in 2015.
The telecom operator posted SAR 202.9 million in losses in the 12-month period of 2016, down 81.44% from SAR 1.093 billion in 2015, according to a statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).
Gross profit for the full year declined 6.7% to SAR 7.425 billion from SAR 7.958 billion the year before, owing to a decrease in revenues.
The company attributed its net loss “improvement” to lower “G&A expenses by SAR 1.432 billion, which was mainly due to booking an SAR 800 million doubtful debt provision towards Zain KSA in the previous period, among other significant cost reductions, certain savings and reversal of certain accruals."
Moreover, a decrease in expenses for selling and marketing by SAR 169 million helped trim losses, the statement showed.
EBITDA for 2016 amounted to SAR 4.009 billion, (or 31.9% EBITDA margin) compared to SAR 2.941 billion (or 20.4% EBITDA margin) for the previous year, the company added, noting that the SAR 1.068 billion increase in EBITDA was also attributed to the lower G&A expenses by SAR 1.432 billion.
