RIYADH – Saudi Telecom (STC), the Gulf's number two telecoms operator by market value, posted a forecast-beating 73 percent rise in third-quarter profit on Tuesday, attributing the rise to cost savings. Having announced surprise profit falls in each of the past three quarters because of write-downs on foreign investments, STC said that the improvement was largely down to increased efficiencies that reduced costs by SR907 million from the same period last year. STC made a net profit of SR3.39 billion ($904 million) in the three months to Sept. 30, up from SR1.95 billion a year earlier, the company said in a Saudi bourse filing. Shares in STC, which has operations in the Gulf, Turkey, South Africa and Asia, have gained 2.5 percent this year, underperforming a 17.2 percent gain by Saudi's main index over the same period. STC last month agreed to sell its majority stake in Indonesian operator Axis to Malaysia's Axiata Group and said on Tuesday that it is continuing its reassessment of its international portfolio while focusing on its domestic operations. “STC sees the growth in the domestic market is sustainable short to mid-term, specifically in broadband – fixed and mobile – and business sector services, the company's chairman and managing director, Abdulaziz Al-Sugair, said in the statement. In its home market, STC competes with Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), which is an affiliate of UAE operator Etisalat, and Zain Saudi, which is part-owned by Kuwaiti group Zain. — Reuters
