Mobily reports massive US$610 million loss for Q414

Mobily, which in November re-stated 18 months of profits, swung to a shock fourth-quarter loss on January 21.

An affiliate of Etisalat, Mobily made a net loss of SAR2.28 billion (US$607.1 million) in the three months to December 31, down from a profit of SAR1.69 billion in the prior-year period.

In a statement Mobily attributed the reason for the net loss as being mainly due to a decrease in revenues, an increase in operating expenses, higher depreciation and finance expenses as well as exceptional expense items recorded during the current quarter compared with the same quarter in 2013.

In November, Mobily cut its profits for 2013 and the first half of 2014 by a combined SAR1.43 billion, citing accounting errors, and also reported a 71 per cent drop in third-quarter profit.

Mobily’s actions prompted the bourse regulator to launch a probe and the company later suspended its chief executive.

Mobily’s 2014 annual profit was SAR220 million, down from a net profit of SAR5.94 billion in 2013.