Zain Group, the leading mobile telecommunication operator in the Middle East and Africa present in 22 countries, recorded consolidated revenues of $3.488 billion in first half of 2008, an increase of 26 percent compared to the same period last year. The company said on Saturday that its consolidated EBITDA increased by 20 percent for the same period to reach $1.305 billion. Zain consolidated net profits reached $551.5 million, an increase of 7 percent on profits for the same period in 2007. Year-on-year customer growth across the two continents where Zain operates was 58 percent with the Zain Group serving 50.74 million managed active customers at June 30, 2008. Zain CEO, Dr. Saad Al-Barrak, said: “On the back of splendid results for 2007 and the first quarter of 2008, despite fierce competition in many markets, we are elated that Zain continues its excellent performance in the first half of 2008. Highlighted by crossing the 50 million customer milestone, these impressive results reflect the exceptional operational efficiencies in a company that is investing heavily and rapidly expanding across two continents.” Al-Barrak added that “we have started to reap the rewards of our recent large investments particularly in Iraq, Nigeria and Sudan with these 3 countries now serving more than half of Zain's 50 million customers, and we expect similar rewards when our operations in Saudi Arabia and Ghana commence commercial operations.” Zain has committed capital investments to date in networks exceeding $1.5 billion in Saudi Arabia. Currently the operation is testing the network with thousands of friendly users.
