Saudi Mobily In 10% Bonus Share Issue

Saudi Arabia’s stock market regulator has approved a 10 per cent bonus share issue by telecom operator Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), according to a statement on the kingdom’s bourse on Sunday.

Mobily will now hold an extraordinary shareholders meeting within the next six months to confirm the share issue, with those holding stocks at the close of bourse trading on that day qualifying, the statement said.

The operator, an affiliate of the United Arab Emirates’ Etisalat, will give shareholders one new bonus share for every 10 held. This will raise the number of shares issued to 770 million from 700 million.

Each share has a nominal value of 10 riyals, meaning Mobily’s capital will increase to 7.7 billion riyals ($2.05 billion) from 7 billion riyals currently.

When announcing plans for the share issue on November 19, Saudi’s number two operator said it would finance the capital increase through its retained earnings.o