Kuwaiti telecoms giant Zain said Wednesday its net profit rose slightly in the fourth quarter but fell sharply in 2015 due to unrest in some markets and a strong dollar.

Zain posted a net profit of 36 million dinars ($120 million) in the last three months of 2015, up eight percent on the corresponding period of the previous year, the company said in a statement.

Its net profit for the whole of 2015 however dropped 21 percent to 154 million dinars ($513 million) from 194 million dinars ($647 million) in the previous year.

The company attributed the decline to a number of factors including the appreciation of the US dollar against the Kuwaiti dinar, losses in other currencies, the conflict in Iraq and increasing competition in Kuwait and some other markets.

The appreciation of the US dollar against the Kuwaiti dinar cost Zain $30 million in net profit, the company said.

“The board is working closely with the executive management to overcome the many challenging socio-economic factors in a number of our markets,” chairman Asad al-Banwan said.

Consolidated revenues last year dropped 6.0 percent to $3.8 billion while the company’s customer base rose 3.0 percent to 45.6 million clients.

Besides Kuwait, where it is the largest mobile phone operator, Zain has operations in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. It also manages a unit in Morocco.

The Kuwaiti government holds a stake of almost 25 percent in the company, one of three mobile operators in the oil-rich emirate, alongside National Telecommunications Co. (Wataniya) and Kuwait Telecommunications Co. (VIVA).