The former monopoly, which operates in eight countries in the Middle East and Africa, made a net profit of 37 million dinars ($122.5 million) in the three months to March 31, it said in a statement.
Analysts at EFG Hermes and SICO Bahrain had forecast Zain would make a quarterly profit of 39.11 million dinars and 38.4 million dinars respectively.
The firm had posted falling profits in six of the preceding seven quarters as tougher domestic competition, service interruptions and higher costs in war-torn Iraq, and foreign exchange volatility weighed on the bottom line. Zain said its first-quarter foreign currency losses were predominantly from Iraq and totalled $35 million, up from $7 million a year earlier.
First-quarter revenue was 277 million dinars, down slightly on the prior-year period's 278.9 million dinars.
In Kuwait, Zain competes with Ooredoo Kuwait, a unit of Qatar's Ooredoo, and Viva, an affiliate of Saudi Telecom Co.