Zain Confirms Dividend Issue

Kuwait telecoms group Zain agreed to issue a dividend of 65 fils per share on Thursday and said it would back a subscription by its Saudi affiliate.

Zain Chairman Assad al-Banwan confirmed the 2011 dividend at its annual general meeting.

Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti telco’s deputy chairman said it would would guarantee any new issues made by Zain Saudi, its indebted affiliate.

“We will guarantee the shares,” Abdulaziz al-Nafisi said at the shareholder meeting.

Zain Saudi has said it wants to cut its capital by 66 percent to alleviate mounting losses and then issue 6 billion riyals of new shares. The new equity would be used to reduce bank debt and enahnce the operator’s network, it said last year