Mobily seeks to regain market share in Q3

Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) is seeking to regain its commercial presence in Saudi Arabia starting from the third quarter by focusing on data to increase market share and profitability, the telecom firm said in on Wednesday.

Mobily, the Kingdom’s second largest mobile phone operator, reported a net loss of SAR 189.7 million for Q2 2017 versus net profit of SAR 3.2 million in the year-earlier period, attributing the sharp decline to lower revenues and gross profit.

The telco said its gross profit in Q2 was impacted by higher roaming costs and transit costs.

Going forward, Mobily said it is ready to implement its new business strategy starting the third quarter of this year.

The strategy includes higher focus on IT transformation, with the aim to go fully-digital on all customer interactions. Starting H2 2018, the company said it will adopt a “digital-first mindset.”

The telco seeks to benefit from the Kingdom’s growing young demographics and the Vision 2030, which aims to boost the information and telecommunications technologies (ICT) sector.

The company’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) declined in Q2 due to higher interest and financial charge expenses, and an increase of zakat as a one-off related to change of regulation.