Zain Group posted revenue of $1.67 billion (–8 percent), EBITDA of $695 million (–17 percent) with EBITDA margin of 41.7 percent and net income of $270 million for the first six months of 2017.

Zain in a media statement said that foreign currency translation impact, mainly due to 61 percent currency devaluation in Sudan from 6.4 in H1 2016 to 16.5 cost the company $305 million in revenue, $131 million in EBITDA and $58 million in net income.

“The first six-months produced some defining positive developments such as the progress being achieved through the turnaround program in Saudi Arabia and robust growth in data monetization, Enterprise (B2B), and smart city initiatives in several key markets,” said Bader Nasser Al-Kharafi, Group CEO of Zain.

Zain said its data revenues now represent 25 percent of total revenues. The company ended the period serving 45.2 million customers.

Zain, which did not share its investment, said it ramped up its investment in digital technologies to further maximize the output of its modern networks with the aim of improving the customer experience.

Zain expanded 4.5G LTE networks across key markets. Zain Group said is data revenues (excluding SMS and VAS) increased 4 percent, representing 25 percent of the group’s consolidated revenues.

Zain Saudi Arabia’s turnaround and cost optimization program, combined with network upgrades and new data monetization initiatives bolstered key financial indicators.