Mobily says cut debts by SAR 1.3 bln YTD

Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), Saudi Arabia's second biggest telecom operator, said on Wednesday that it had reduced its leverage by almost SAR 1.3 billion since the beginning of this year to SAR 12.7 billion.

The net debt and net debt/EBITDA ratio was reduced to 3.4x, Mobily said in its Q3 Investor Presentation on Tadawul.

“Despite negative net income, the company continues to generate healthy cash reflecting the focus on operational cash flow,” the firm added.

Mobily reported a net loss of SAR 527.2 million for 9M 2017, versus a net loss of SAR 143.4 million in the same period last year.

The widening loss was attributed to a 12 percent drop in revenue to SAR 8.52 billion due to an erosion of subscriber base due to the fingerprinting process and the drop in interconnection rates. 

Q3 net loss widened 5 percent to SAR 174.5 million from SAR 166.3 million in the year-earlier period, due to a 4 percent drop year-on-year (YoY) in revenue.

The telecom operator is continuing its efforts towards rationalizing capital expenditure and modernizing its network.