* 2011 net profit 1.03 bln vs 1.02 bln dollars a year ago
-KUNA
* Q4 net profit $268 million - Reuters calculations
* Earnings impacted by volatility of exchange rates
DUBAI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Kuwait's Zain
posted a net profit of $1.03 billon in 2011, up from $1.02
billion in the previous year, the state news agency KUNA
reported on Monday.
The telecom firm made a fourth-quarter net profit of $268
million, Reuters calculated, based on the nine-month earnings
report of the company. KUNA did not provide any quarterly
figures.
Analysts polled by Reuters on average expected the firm to
post a quarterly profit of 72.5 million dinars ($261.3 million).
Zain said the 2010 earnings figure did not include the
profits the group made from the sale of its African assets.
"In light of the difficult financial situation, the group
was able to maintain growth levels in its key financial
indicators, but the group's profit was highly impacted by the
continuing volatility of exchange rates in some of its main
markets," KUNA quoted group chairman Asaad al-Banwan as saying.
The company said subscriber numbers rose 8 percent to 40.2
million.
Zain -- which operates in seven countries including Saudi
Arabia, Sudan and Iraq -- said that total shareholders' equity
amounted to $7.9 billion in 2011, taking into account that the
group distributed profits worth over $5 billion over the past
two years.
The operator's shares closed 2.3 percent higher on Kuwait's
bourse before the results were announced.
($1 = 0.2775 Kuwaiti dinars)
(Reporting by Nour Merza, writing by Praveen Menon, editing by
Firouz Sedarat)
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