Mobily profit rises 35%

Saudi-based Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) has said it has posted a 35% increase in fourth-quarter profit on Internet and phone-service demand in the kingdom, Bloomberg has reported. Net income rose to SR1.05bn ($280.5m) from SR778m in the year-earlier period. The kingdom had 41 million mobile-phone subscribers and 9.8 million Internet users at the end of the third quarter, the Communications and Information Technology Commission said last month. Broadband users rose 48% from the year before to nearly 2 million.