RIYADH: Saudi's No.2 telecom company, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), said on Saturday its third-quarter net profit jumped 23 percent to 1.51 billion riyals ($403 million) over the same period of 2011, beating analyst forecasts.
The firm, an affiliate of the United Arab Emirates' Etisalat, attributed its performance to higher revenue from its data and business units and higher sales of smartphones.
Analysts polled by Reuters on average had forecast Mobily - which competes with the Gulf's No.1 operator, Saudi Telecom Co , and Zain Saudi, part-owned by Kuwait's Zain, - would make a quarterly profit of 1.44 billion riyals.
Mobily's third-quarter revenue was 1.5 billion riyals, up from 1.2 billion riyals a year earlier. Operating income for the quarter increased 23 percent to 1.57 billion riyals.
It also said, in a separate statement, that it plans to issue a 1 riyal dividend per share for its third-quarter net profits.
In September, Mobily said it had signed agreements with several mobile virtual network operators about potentially hosting one of them on its network. (Reuters)
