Middle East operator group Zain announced ambitious growth plans for the year to 2014, stating that it has “devised an integrated strategy that will hopefully aid us.” Through organic growth, it is looking to “more than double” its net profit to US$2.1 billion, with a target customer base of 52 million, up from 37 million at the end of 2010. According to Nabeel Bin Salamah (pictured), CEO of the company, during the last two years it has invested more than US$1.4 billion to develop and improve the operational efficiency and quality of its network, which will “provide a strong base for future growth so that Zain can be at the forefront of mobile technology in most of the markets it serves.” The company did not issue an update on its proposed alliance with Etisalat.

For the year to 31 December 2010, it reported a consolidated net income of KWD1.06 billion (US$3.68 billion), up 445 percent, a figure that was flattered by a KWD770.3 million gain from the sale of its African assets to Bharti Airtel. Its consolidated revenue was KWD1.35 billion, up 7 percent. Excluding its capital gains, net income was KWD293 million, a 50 percent year-on-year increase. The company also saw a solid growth in its customer based, gaining 6.9 million customers to take its total to 37.24 million. It doubled its customer base in Sudan to reach 10.42 million, making it the second biggest market for the company after Iraq (12.07 million). The company also saw a 317 percent growth rate in Saudi Arabia to 8.39 million, making it the third largest territory for Zain. The only market where the company saw its subscriber base decrease was Bahrain, which shrunk by 24 percent to 500,000.