Zain Saudi plans 55% capital cut

Mobile operator Zain Saudi Arabia plans a shareholder meeting to vote on cutting its capital by 55 per cent, part of a capital restructuring plan aimed to cover accumulated losses.
 
The kingdom's third mobile operator, in which Kuwait's Zain has a 25 per cent stake, wants to reduce its capital base to 6 billion riyals ($1.60 billion) from 14 billion riyals currently, it said in a statement to bourse on Monday.

The company did not mention a date for the shareholders meeting.

Zain Saudi unveiled a plan in August last year to cut its capital by almost half and later launch a rights issue to raise it by nearly 60 per cent.

On Sunday, Kuwait's Zain rejected all bids for the sale of its stake in Zain Saudi, a key regulatory requirement for etisalat's stake buy in the Kuwaiti telecom.

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding, Bahrain Telecommunications and an investment consortium led by Al Riyadh Group had bid for the stake.

Zain Saudi has been accumulating losses since beginning its operations in biggest Arab economy by paying $6 billion for a license. It trimmed its fourth quarter net losses by 21 per cent year-on-year as it increased its customer base and widened network coverage.

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