Etisalat profits fall 21%

Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat), which faces increasing competition from a new market entrant in the UAE, reported a 21 per cent fall in second quarter profits on Sunday.

The Arab world's second-largest telecom operator by market value, now pursuing opportunities abroad, said net profit fell to Dh1.9 billion in the quarter from Dh2.4 billion a year ago, missing analysts' expectations.

It did not give a reason for the profit fall.

Second quarter revenue totalled Dh8.1 billion, similar to a year ago, while subscriber levels, at 7.8 million in mobile and 1.28 million in fixed-line, were little changed from the first quarter.

Dubai-based competitor du, which broke its monopoly in 2007, has been reporting strong profit growth driven by surging subscriber growth.

Du has yet to report results for the second quarter.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast an average net profit of Dh2.06 billion for Etisalat.

The Abu Dhabi-based group has been aggressively expanding outside the UAE since it lost its monopoly.

It said in June it planned to invest 8 billion Egyptian pounds (Dh5.17 billion) in its Egyptian unit over the next three years, as it eyes growth in the market.

"Etisalat has followed a powerful strategy to offset the potential impact of today's global economic conditions which continue to affect the results of companies around the world," Mohamed Omran, chairman said in the statement.

The firm also confirmed in June it is looking to buy a stake in an Indian mobile operator, after a report that it was in talks with India's Reliance Communications for a $3.8 billion deal.

Etisalat is present in 18 markets globally in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

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