Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) Wednesday said its third-quarter net profit slumped by more than half, as it made unexpected foreign exchange losses. The company made a net profit of SR1.56 billion ($415.96 million), compared with a profit of SR3.3 billion in the same period a year ago, it said in a statement on Saudi bourse website. STC said it made foreign exchange losses of SR780 million in the quarter and also took SR134 million in provisions. STC, which owns 35 percent of Turkey's Oger Telecom, licenses in Bahrain and Kuwait and a controlling stake in Indonesian firm Axis, said revenues for services were SR14 billion in the quarter, up from SR13.2 billion a year earlier. Subsidiary and affiliate companies provided 34 percent of group revenues, STC said, without specifying whether this was for the third quarter or the nine months to the end of September. STC said in a separate statement it will pay a dividend of SR0.5 per share for the third quarter. The operator's shares closed 0.3 percent lower on Saudi Arabia's bourse in earlier trading before the results were announced. Earlier, STC signed a cooperation agreement with Saudi Fransi Bank, according to it the company provides the bank with the latest communications solutions and smart innovations, in order to strengthen and develop the infrastructure of the bank communications in a manner that meets its desires and aspirations.
