AMSTERDAM: Dutch telecom group Veon, which owns Ukraine’s biggest mobile operator Kyivstar, posted higher second quarter core earnings on Thursday thanks to strong customer gains across its services.
Core profit rose 13.9% on a local currency basis to $459 million, the company said.
“Robust organic performance across our markets is driven by 10 million additional 4G customers, 111 million digital service users, showcasing our capability to build new businesses in financial, entertainment, healthcare, education, and enterprise services,” CEO Kaan Terzioğlu said in a statement.
Its total digital monthly active users grew by 47.3% to 111 million.
Since Veon’s exit from its main market Russia last year, it has been focused on expanding its telecom services in countries where it is still present, including Ukraine, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh.
In Ukraine, sales grew by 9.5% and core profit increased by 9.8% despite higher energy costs, the group said.
Ukrainian telecom operators like Kyivstar have been impacted by Russian attacks on the nation’s power grid. Kyivstar was also hit by a massive cyberattack last year.
“Nearly 100% of our radio network is operational across all territories controlled by Ukraine at the end of the quarter,” Veon said.
In Pakistan, where Veon owns the country’s largest telecom provider Jazz, sales grew by 24.2%. In Kazakhstan, where it operates through the Beeline brand, they rose 18.8%.
Last week, the company said it intended to de-list from Euronext Amsterdam and be solely listed in New York. It will keep its headquarters in Amsterdam.
Veon on Thursday also confirmed its sales and core profit forecasts for the full year.
Veon posts 13.9% jump in core profit, boosted by customer gains in countries like Pakistan
https://arab.news/phqez
Veon posts 13.9% jump in core profit, boosted by customer gains in countries like Pakistan
- The company’s sales grew by 24.2% in Pakistan where it owns the largest telecom provider Jazz
- The top Veon official mentions ‘robust organic performance’ across services in different markets
PIF’s Humain invests $3bn in Elon Musk’s xAI prior to SpaceX acquisition
JEDDAH: Humain, an artificial intelligence company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, invested $3 billion in Elon Musk’s xAI shortly before the startup was acquired by SpaceX.
As part of xAI’s Series E round, Humain acquired a significant minority stake in the company, which was subsequently converted into shares of SpaceX, according to a press release.
The transaction reflects PIF’s broader push to position Saudi Arabia as a central hub in the global AI ecosystem, as part of its Vision 2030 diversification strategy.
Through Humain, the fund is seeking to combine capital deployment with infrastructure buildout, partnerships with leading technology firms, and domestic capacity development to reduce reliance on oil revenues and expand into advanced industries.
The $3 billion commitment offers potential for long-term capital gains while reinforcing the company’s role as a strategic, scaled investor in transformative technologies.
CEO Tareq Amin said: “This investment reflects Humain’s conviction in transformational AI and our ability to deploy meaningful capital behind exceptional opportunities where long-term vision, technical excellence, and execution converge, xAI’s trajectory, further strengthened by its acquisition by SpaceX, one of the largest technology mergers on record, represents the kind of high-impact platform we seek to support with significant capital.”
The deal builds on a large-scale collaboration announced in November at the US-Saudi Investment Forum, where Humain and xAI committed to developing over 500 megawatts of next-generation AI data center and computing infrastructure, alongside deploying xAI’s “Grok” models in the Kingdom.
In a post on his X handle, Amin said: “I’m proud to share that Humain has invested $3 billion into xAI’s Series E round, just prior to its historic acquisition by SpaceX. Through this transaction, Humain became a significant minority shareholder in xAI.”
He added: “The investment builds on our previously announced 500MW AI infrastructure partnership with xAI in Saudi Arabia, reinforcing Humain’s role as both a strategic development partner and a scaled global investor in frontier AI.”
He noted that xAI’s trajectory, further strengthened by SpaceX’s acquisition, exemplifies the high-impact platforms Humain aims to support through strategic investments.
Earlier in February, SpaceX completed the acquisition of xAI, reflecting Elon Musk’s strategy to integrate AI with space exploration.
The combined entity, valued at $1.25 trillion, aims to build a vertically integrated innovation ecosystem spanning AI, space launch technology, and satellite internet, as well as direct-to-device communications and real-time information platforms, according to Bloomberg.
Humain, founded in August, consolidates Saudi Arabia’s AI initiatives under a single entity. From the outset, its vision has extended beyond domestic markets, participating across the global AI value chain from infrastructure to applications.
The company represents a strategic initiative by PIF to diversify the Kingdom’s economy and reduce oil dependence by investing in knowledge-based and advanced technologies.
