Mobinil posts 96 pct drop in Q3 profits year-on-year

Egypt's Mobinil posted a 96 percent fall in year-on-year third quarter net profit to 10 million Egyptian pounds on Tuesday, but reversed a loss from the previous quarter.

The result compares to a net loss of 108.5 million pounds in the second quarter as political turmoil following the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak froze business activity in the country. The second quarter was also hit by deferred taxes, the firm said.

"The impact of the new tax regime is limited to current period profits as the hit related to deferred taxes was registered during the second quarter of 2011," Mobinil said in a statement, without adding further details.

Mobinil said in its statement that its total subscribers in the quarter increased 3.4 percent quarter-on-quarter to a total of 31.576 million subscribers.

The firm's second-quarter earnings had been affected by a drop in subscribers who took offence at a cartoon tweeted by the firm's founder in June. Some people considered the cartoon to be offensive to Islam, prompting some Muslims to call for a boycott of Mobinil.

Mobinil's chairman had told Reuters earlier this month that the customer boycott had subsided.

Mobinil said in its statement its subscriber base had grown "despite the Twitter incident." The firm said it had offered commercial promotions to its customers, including new products, discounts and free modems.