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Zain unit upbeat [Gulf Daily News (Bahrain)](Gulf Daily News (Bahrain) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) DUBAI: Zain Saudi, Saudi Arabia's third biggest telecoms operator, will buy fixed line capacity from its competitors to expand its services and aims to break even in less than five years, it said yesterday. The firm, which began operations in 2008, claimed 15 per cent of Saudi's mobile subscribers at 2013-end and has struggled to break the dominance of better-resourced rivals Saudi Telecom Company and Etihad Etisalat. But chief executive Hassan Kabbani, an industry veteran appointed in September, believes a new approach can help his company woo customers and improve its financial performance. Zain Saudi made a loss of 318 million riyals ($85m) in the three months to March 31, down from a loss of 398m a year ago. Analysts polled had on average forecast a loss of 400m riyals. Zain Saudi attributed its improved performance, despite a 13pc drop in quarterly revenue to 1.55bn riyals, to cutting sales, distribution and marketing costs. (c) 2014 Al Hilal Publishing & Marketing Group Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |