Etisalat reports gain in quarterly earnings despite decline in sales

Etisalat, the UAE’s biggest telecom operator, reported flat net profit in the third quarter of the year on slightly weaker sales.

For the three months to September 30, net profit came in at Dh2.28 billion, despite sales declining 1.3 per cent year-onyear to Dh12.98bn, according to accounts filed on the Abu

Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares trade.

Etisalat said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were 3 per cent higher at Dh6.8bn and its aggregate subscriber base was up 5 per cent year-on-year to 148 million.

“Etisalat’s performance in the third quarter demonstrates our agility in adapting to the rapid changes in the telecom industry,” said Saleh Al Abdooli, chief executive of Etisalat

Group. Net profit for the nine-month period increased 2.1 per cent to Dh6.73bn, despite revenue falling 1 per cent to Dh38.85bn.

The operator, which is majority owned by the government, also owns and operates subsidiaries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Its subscriber base in the UAE reached 12.4 million in the third quarter.

Etisalat, which had a monopoly in the UAE until du entered the market in 2007, has also launched ultra-high speed mobile broadband 5G services this year. It is constructing 1,000 5G towers in the country and will be spending Dh4bn on digital transformation and improving its mobile and fibre network this year.

“We have channelled our efforts towards leading the digital transformation with the successful roll-out of 5G networks while equipping our operations with the next generation of technologies like AI [artificial intelligence] and robotics,” added Mr Abdooli.

EFG Hermes, an Egyptian investment bank, said Etisalat’s results came broadly in line with its estimates on most levels.

“Numbers are in line at all levels – revenue, ebitda and net income – and it seems like there are no major surprises,” Omar Maher, vice president of telecoms at EFG Hermes, told