KUWAIT CITY, Oct 22: Kuwaiti telecom giant Zain said on Monday its net profit for the third quarter to September this year dropped 17.4 per cent to $213.2 million, compared to $250.2 in the same period last year. The company’s net profit in the first nine months of 2012 also dropped 4.2 per cent to $720 million from $750.7 million in the corresponding period last year, Zain said in a statement posted on the Kuwait Stock Exchange website. Zain’s assets stood at $10.7 billion on September 30, down 7.8 per cent from $11.6 billion a year ago, while shareholders’ equity dived 16.7 per cent to $6 billion from $7.2 billion over the same period.—AFP