Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) made a record profit of 305.3 million Kuwaiti dinars (about 1.05 billion U.S dollars) in 2006, the Kuwait Times reported on Monday.

The figure exceeded the previous year's 622 million dollars by a 69 percent rise, marking the biggest hike in the history of the private sector in Kuwait, MTC Board Chairman Asaad al-Banawan was quoted as saying.

The revenues of MTC, the fourth largest Arab telecom firm by market value, also hit a record high of 4.17 billion dollars in 2006, compared to 1.98 billion in the previous year.

The profits per share rose by 36 percent to 0.85 dollar from the previous year figure of 0.62 dollar.

According to the report, the current market value of MTC is estimated at 17 billion dollars, of which 24.6 percent is owned by Kuwait's Public Investment Authority and the remaining by private investors.

Launched in 1983, MTC is the first mobile telecommunications firm in the Middle East and operates in 20 countries, including Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon and Sudan.

Source: Xinhua