Zain revenue jumps 15% to $1.53 bn in Q1 powered by 5G growth

Zain Group, a leading mobile operator in seven markets across the Middle East and Africa, reported revenue of $1.53 billion (+15 percent), EBITDA of $540 million (+8 percent) with EBITDA margin of 35 percent and net income of $177 million (+15 percent) in Q1 2023.
Zain 5G businessZain added 2.2 million active customers, a 4 percent increase to serve 53 million customers, over the past 12 months.

Zain Group has invested $112 million in Capex. As a result, telecom markets such as Kuwait, KSA, and Bahrain achieved impressive growth in 5G customers.

Zain Group’s data revenue grew 10 percent to $591 million, representing 39 percent of the Group’s overall revenue.

Zain KSA has completed the sale of 8,069 telecom tower assets to the Kingdom’s PIF for $807 million, transferring 3,600 out of the 8,069 tower assets. The ownership of the remaining telecom towers will be transferred in batches in the coming quarters.

Zain Iraq has finalized the sale and leaseback as well as the management rights of 4,968 towers to TASC Towers Iraq (a subsidiary of Zain Group) for $180 million. The second phase to sell these towers to TASC Towers Holding will be concluded during second half of 2023.

Zain has generated revenue of $285 million (+3 percent) from Kuwait; $644 million (+11 percent) from Saudi Arabia; $223 million (+15 percent) from Iraq; $167 million (+70 percent) from Sudan; $129 million (+4 percent) from Jordan; $48 million (+6 percent) from Bahrain.

Zain Kuwait’s subscriber base reached 2.6 million. Zain Kuwait’s data revenue accounts for 38 percent of total revenue.

Zain Saudi Arabia has 8.7 million customers. Zain Saudi Arabia’s data revenue represented 40 percent of total revenue.

Zain Iraq’s subscriber-base reached 18.2 million.

Zain Sudan’s customer base reached 16.8 million. Zain Sudan’s data revenue grew by 90 percent representing 34 percent of total revenue.

Zain Jordan has 3.8 million customers, maintaining a market leading position.

Zain Bahrain’s data revenue grew 5 percent to represent 45 percent of total revenue.