Saudi regulator maintains Mobily shares halt until restated financials disclosed

Saudi Arabia’s bourse regulator on Monday said a suspension on the shares of Mobily will continue until the mobile operator discloses its restated financial statements for last year and the first quarter of 2015.

Mobily shares have been suspended since June 9, when the Capital Market Authority halted trading until the no.2 operator in the kingdom, also known as Etihad Etisalat, disclosed the financial impact of an investigation into its accounts.

This was announced by the company on June 28, with its 2014 loss widened by SAR 830m to SAR 1.745bn ($465.3m) and its first-quarter losses changed to a small profit.

Although the firm said its full restated financials would be published before its second-quarter earnings are released, due to take place some time in July.

Mobily has been subject to increased regulatory oversight since November last year when the company restated a year and a half of earnings as a result of accounting errors related to timing of booking revenue from a promotional campaign.