Mobily postpones general assembly to review CMA report

Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) has decided to postpone its general assembly meeting scheduled for today to review an assessment presented by the Capital Market Authority’s (CMA) investigation team, which has been examining the company’s financial statements.

The operator received the report from the Saudi market regulator on Monday.

Mobily said it will collaborate with external auditors and review concerns presented. It added that it will disclose financial findings or updates, if any.

“At such time, the company will approach and coordinate with the concerned authorities to set a new time for convening the ordinary general assembly,” the company said in a statement.

The market regulator decided on Monday to place a trading halt on Mobily’s shares starting Tuesday, until the company could review the assessment.

Last month, Argaam reported that the CMA had launched an investigation on the company after suspecting insider trading.

Mobily, which is considered the kingdom’s second-largest mobile operator, has recently ran into financial trouble after announcing accounting errors related to excessive booking of revenue. The company reported a SAR 199 million loss for Q1-2015, after claiming a SAR 1.61 billion net profit during the same period last year.

The company had also restated its 2014 earnings, after saying it suffered a $243 million (SAR 911 million) loss instead of the $58.6 million (SAR 219.84 million) profit reported in its unaudited results for January.