Kuwait-based telecoms group Zain has published its consolidated financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2022, reporting a 10% increase in revenues year-on-year to KWD829 million (USD2.7 billion), while EBITDA increased 3% annually to KWD320 million. The company booked a net profit of KWD98 million in the six months under review, up 14% y-o-y.
Over the six months to 30 June 2022, Zain CAPEX investments focused predominantly on 5G rollouts in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain; 4G upgrades and new network sites across its markets; expansion of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) infrastructure; and spectrum licence fees. During the period under review, Zain Kuwait claims to have become the first telecoms operator globally to launch Vo5G with nationwide coverage; the group also completed the first 4G/5G Open and Cloud Native Radio Access Network (cRAN) live trial in the region.
In operational terms, Zain Group reported a consolidated subscription base of 51.7 million at 30 June 2022, an increase of 7.1% y-o-y. In Kuwait subscriptions increased 9% y-o-y to 2.6 million, while the Saudi Arabian unit reported 8.9 million subscriptions (up 21% y-o-y). Zain Sudan’s subscription base stood at 16.3 million at 30 June, flat y-o-y. Zain Iraq, meanwhile, saw its subscription base increase 12% y-o-y to serve 18.0 million in H1 2022, while the subscription base in Jordan reached 3.7 million (up 4% y-o-y).
Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi, Zain Vice-Chairman and Group CEO, commented: ‘The healthy revenue and net income growth across multiple key markets vindicates the strategic investments we have made over recent years in network upgrades and cutting-edge digital platforms. By offering our individual and enterprise customers state-of-the-art technologies and services, we are enhancing our customer and revenue share across our markets. The 5G network of our flagship operation in Kuwait is the driving force of the 9% increase in customers and generation of multiple streams of profitable government and enterprise revenue, resulting in a 11% increase for all key financial indicators – revenue, EBITDA and net income.’