Mobily reschedules loan with four banks

Riyadh: Etihad Etisalat, the second-largest mobile-phone company in Saudi Arabia, has rescheduled a 1.5 billion-riyal (Dh1.4 billion) Islamic loan with four Saudi banks.

The short-term financing will be repaid over four years, the Riyadh-based telecommunications provider said in a statement to the Saudi bourse on Sunday.

Samba Financial Group, Riyad Bank, Saudi British Bank and National Commercial Bank are the lenders involved in the transaction.

Etihad Etisalat, also known as Mobily, received regulatory approval in 2008 to finance the purchase of Bayanat Al Oula for Network Services with a one-year loan. Mobily started operations in 2004 and is a unit of Emirates Telecommunications of the UAE. Mobily gained 3.7 per cent to 42 riyals in Riyadh on Sunday.