Zain's net income for April to June compared with the 70.3 million dinars ($250.0 million) posted in the same period of 2011, the company said in a statement posted on the Kuwait bourse website.

The company said its profit for the first half was up 1.2 percent at 141.9 million dinars ($505.0 million) compared with 140.2 million dinars ($498.9 million) in the first six months of last year.

Zain's net profit dived 73 percent in 2011 to $1.03 billion, mainly because the previous year's net income included $2.78 billion as a one-off capital gain from the sale of its African assets.

The company assets dropped 14.4 percent to $9.93 billion on June 30 from $11.6 billion a year ago, while shareholders' equity dived 19.0 percent to $5.69 billion from $6.76 billion over the same period.

Besides Kuwait, Zain has operations in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Sudan with a customer base of around 40 million. It also manages a unit in Morocco.

Zain, in which the Kuwaiti government holds a stake of almost 25 percent, is one of three mobile operators in the Gulf emirate, along with the National Telecommunications Co. (Wataniya) and Kuwait Telecommunications Co. (VIVA).