Dubai: Emirates Telecommunication Group Company or Etisalat said on Tuesday its first half net profit rose 6 per cent as revenues rose.
Net profit came in at Dh4.3 billion in the six months to June, while revenues for the first half came in at Dh26.2 billion, registering a 4 per cent increase on year, the company said in a filing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
The net profit after federal royalty rose 12 per cent to Dh2.2 billion in the second quarter. The company’s consolidated revenues rose 2 per cent to Dh13.1 billion in the second quarter to June.
Revenues of international consolidated operations, which represented 39 per cent of the total revenues, for the second quarter increased 6 per cent to Dh5.1 billion.
- Saleh Al Abdooli | Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Group
“The financial performance continue to lay a solid foundation for investment, hence, enabling Etisalat to introduce solutions that will reshape the industry and change the business operating dynamics,” said Essa Mohamed Al Suwaidi, Chairman of Etisalat Group in a statement.
The company’s board also approved an interim dividend of 40 fils for the first half of 2018.
Subscriber base:
Etisalat’s subscriber base reached 144 million, up 4 per cent on year, reflecting a net gain of of 5.2 million during the last 12 month period due to strong subscriber growth in the UAE, Morocco, Pakistan and Afghanistan among others. The UAE subscriber base rose 12.7 million, up 3 per cent on year.
Subscriber growth locally was driven by mobile and elife segments. The mobile subscriber base grew by 4 per cent to 10.9 million, which meant a net addition of 0.4 million subscribers in the pre-paid segment.
The biggest growth came in from Maroc Telecom, where the subscriber baase reached 60.3 million as at June 2018, representing a growth of 10 per cent on year.
In Egypt, the subscriber base fell by 7 per cent on year to 33.2 million due to strict regulatory requirements for subscriber acquisition through indirect channels.
5G service:
Etisalat was the first telecom operator to launch 5G ultra-mobile broadband service in the region.
“...through our partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai, the latter became the first 5G major commercial customer in MEASA. Such collaboration is a declaration of a new era of digital connectivity, and an acknowledgment of 5G’s rich anticipated potential,” Al Abdooli said.
“Whether we are introducing novel technologies or launching new innovative services, our achievements are spread across all aspects of the business and integrate seamlessly to deliver our strategic objectives. We managed to capitalize on our financial, technological and human assets enabling us to spearhead in a new world that will be defined by the digital pioneers,” he added.
The company will continue to pilot and explore new technologies while probing prospective use cases that will maximize value and bring tangible benefit to customers and shareholder, the company added.
