Saudi mobile operator Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) has reportedly dismissed CEO Khalid al-Kaf, as it reports a loss of US$243m for 2014 and reveals it has breached covenants on long-term loans.
Mobily, which is partly-owned by UAE telco Etisalat, said in a…
Saudi mobile operator Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) has reportedly dismissed CEO Khalid al-Kaf, as it reports a loss of US$243m for 2014 and reveals it has breached covenants on long-term loans.
Mobily, which is partly-owned by UAE telco Etisalat, said in a local bourse filing today that it discharged Kaf, who has served as CEO since 2005, from the role on 24 February, Reuters reported.
The Saudi Stock Exchange website has been inaccessible today and Mobily was not available for comment.
The operator suspended Kaf last November pending the completion of an investigation into alleged accounting errors which saw it revise its profit for 2013 and the first half of 2014 down by SR1.43bn (US$381.3m).
Deputy CEO Serkan Okandan, also CFO of Etisalat, has served as his replacement.
Kaf’s dismissal comes a day after Mobily announced the resignation of chairman Abdulaziz Al Saghyir for health reasons. His replacement is Suliman bin Abdulrahman Al-Gwaiz.
Meanwhile, the company reportedly revealed in a separate stock exchange filing outlining its audited results for 2014 that it had made a loss of SR913m (US$243.4m) after taking an additional charge of SD1.3bn (US$346.6m).
An unaudited earning report in January posted a profit for 2014 of SD219.8m (US$58.6m), which included an SD2.28bn (US$608m) loss in the fourth quarter.
Mobily reportedly also disclosed today that it had breached covenants on long-term loans with multiple lenders, meaning they have been reclassified as liabilities.
The operator reportedly did not provide details of the breaches but said it is in talks with lenders to amend the covenants and believes these will be completed in the second quarter of the year.
According to audited results summary, Mobily’s liabilities at the end of last year reportedly stood at SD15.3bn (US$4.1bn). The unaudited results stated that its long-term loans and notes at the end of 2014 amounted to SD14.65bn (US$3.9bn) in 2014.