Middle Eastern carrier Zain announced that in the fiscal year 2007 it recorded the highest ever net profits in Kuwait’s private sector history.

The operator, formerly known as MTC, repotded consolidated revenues of $5.91bn (KD1.677bn) for 2007, an increase of 32 per cent compared to 2006.

The consolidated EBITDA increased by 25 per cent compared to last year and reached $2.56bn (KD 725.34 million).

Active Customers grew to 42.4 million (inclusive of 3 million Iraqna customers, acquired on December 31st, 2007) – an increase of 56 per cent on 2006.

MTC made the headlines last year when it paid $6.1bn for the third licence in Saudi Arabia. The bid was a world record-breaking bid represented $225 per person in an already saturated market.

Commenting on the company’s 2007 financial results, Zain’s managing director and deputy chairman, Saad Al-Barrak said: “On one hand, increasing the company’s capital will provide Zain with the liquidity that is necessary to enable it to meet its commitments to its stakeholders according to our ambitious strategy of being a top ten mobile operator by 2011. On the other hand, this increase will play a significant role in reducing the borrowing costs of our operations in the short term and allow us to leverage for the future when the right opportunities arise.”