Mobinil, Egypt’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, made a profit of EGP497 million ($90.8 million) in the third quarter, down 8.1 per cent on a year earlier.

It added 1.771 million new customers in the quarter for a total of 24.625 million by end-September, the firm said.

The firm said its blended average revenue per user (ARPU) dipped to EGP38, indicating that aggressive promotional pricing during the period had cut into revenue, which came in at EGP2.793 billion. It was EGP2.664 billion a year ago.

'The Egyptian market witnessed very aggressive competitive price moves during the third quarter,' Mobinil's Chairman Alex Shalaby said in the earnings statement.

Six analysts polled by Reuters ahead of the results forecast profit in a range between EGP494 million and 593 million, on revenue between EGP2.615 billion and 2.976 billion.

Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was EGP1.268 billion, and the EBITDA margin was in line with expectations at 45.4 per cent. – Reuters