Atheeb to cut capital by more than half

Saudi Arabia's Atheeb Telecom, which has been facing mounting losses over the past year, plans to cut its capital by more than half, a bourse statement said yesterday. "The Capital Market Authority... has approved Atheeb Telecom's request to lower its capital from 1 billion riyals to 400 million riyals," the statement said. The firm's shares will drop to 40 million from the current 100 million shares, it said, on the condition that a general assembly agrees on the change. Atheeb, which operates under the brand name GO, was awarded a Saudi fixed line services licence in 2009 and has since been facing losses which it blamed on rival Saudi Telecom Co for what it said was a breach of anti-monopoly laws. Atheeb posted a loss of 575 million riyals for the financial year ended March 31, prompting the Capital Market Authority to halt trading last month. Its shares closed at 7.75 riyals on the firm's last day of trading on May 24. The firm's board has recommended cutting its capital to 400 million riyals to wipe out some of the losses, and follow that with a 600 million riyal rights issue, Atheeb said in May, after trading was halted. From / Gulf News