Kuwait’s Zain Q4 net profit drops 35 percent

Zain Group, Kuwait's No.1 telecom operator by subscribers, reported a 35 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit on Sunday, short of two analyst forecasts. The former monopoly, which operates in eight countries in the Middle East and Africa, made a net profit of 33 million dinars ($112.2 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, it said in a statement, without providing a year earlier figure. The company previously reported it made 50.8 million dinars in the same period of 2013. Two analysts polled by Reuters forecast Zain would make a quarterly profit of between 48.3 million dinars and 53.7 million dinars. Zain made a 2014 annual profit of 194 million dinars, without providing a year earlier figure.