The Zain Group recorded consolidated revenues of USD1.887 billion for the third quarter of 2008, an increase of 25% compared to Q3-2007. The company’s consolidated EBITDA increased by 20% for the same period to reach USD763.6 million. Zain’s net profits reached USD326.6 million, an increase of 7% on the same period twelve months previously.
Zain was established in 1983 in Kuwait as the region’s first mobile operator. It currently has a footprint covering 22 countries spread across the Middle East and Africa providing mobile voice and data services. Zain has operations in Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. In Lebanon, the company manages the network on behalf of the government operating as mtc-touch. The company will launch mobile operations in Ghana by the end of 2008. The group claimed 56.3 million active customers at 30 September 2008.