Zain Group CEO resigns as cellco reports Q3 results that are under pressure

Zain Group CEO Nabeel Bin Salamah has announced his resignation, opting not to renew his employment contract, which expires in February 2013, and marks the end of his three-year tenure at the company.

Bin Salamah is reported to have expressed his desire to depart during a board meeting held on October 21 to approve the cellco’s Q312 financial results.

Zain is facing challenging times in some of its eight markets of operation, with the company reporting that for the first nine months of 2012 it generated consolidated revenues of KD974.6 million (US$ 3.5 billion), down 1.4 per cent year-on-year.

Net income for the nine months to September 30, 2012 amounted to KD201.6 million, down 3.8 per cent on the same period in 2011. The company’s consolidated EBITDA came in at KD437.3 million, a drop of 1.6 per cent year-on-year, reflecting an EBITDA margin of 44.87 per cent, down from 45 per cent the previous year.

Subscriber numbers also shrunk over the period, totalling 41.282 million at the end of September 2012, down from 41.36 million.