RIYADH – The Board of Directors of Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) approved the distribution of initial dividends for the second quarter of the year 2012 amounting to SR700 million, at the rate of SR1.00 per share. The dividends represent 10 percent of the par value of the share, and will be paid to the registered shareholders of the company in the records of Tadawul at the closing of trading on July 23, 2012. The disbursement of the dividends will start July 31, 2012. Mobily, Saudi Arabia's second biggest telecommunications operator, posted a 22 percent rise in second-quarter profit. The firm said it made a net profit of SR1.421 billion ($379 million) in the three months to June 30, up from SR1.164 billion in the year-earlier period. Revenues for the second quarter amounted to SR5.678 billion, up 11 percent from the same period a year earlier. Operating income for the quarter increased by 20 percent to SR1.468 billion. Abdulaziz Saleh Al Saghyir, Chairman of Mobily Board of Directors, said the increase is due to growth in data revenue which has a high-margin. Data revenue reached 24 percent of the total revenue of the first half of 2012 (25 percent of the total revenue of Q2 2012). It is also attributable to the growth in the business sector revenue and increase in smartphone sales. – SG
