Zain Saudi Arabia, the kingdom's newest mobile phone operator, posted its lowest quarterly loss since it started operations two years ago after revenues doubled on higher customers.           The firm, 25% owned by Kuwait's Zain, made a net loss of 632 million riyals ($168.5 million) in the second quarter, down from 857 million riyals a year earlier, it said in a statement to the Saudi bourse website.                                             
The firm said it has reached during the second quarter a breakeven point on core earnings, or EBITDA, ahead of an initial third-quarter deadline.                                             
Revenues rose to 1.45 billion riyals during the period, up from 702 million riyals a year earlier and 1.1 billion riyals in the first quarter of 2010.                                             
"The reason of the decrease in the second-quarter's net loss is the wider customer base which rose noticeably during the second quarter, exceeding 7 million customers," Saad al-Barrak, Zain Saudi's chief executive said in the statement.                                            "The gross profit margin rose to 42% against 19% for the same period in the previous year," he said.                                            Shares in the third mobile phone company to enter the Arab world's largest economy have lost 67% since it started commercial operations in August, 2008.                                            Zain Saudi paid a hefty $6 billion for its licence and has borrowed heavily to fend off cash-rich rivals -- state-controlled Saudi Telecom Co and Mobily, affiliated to Emirates Telecommunications.