Etisalat, the UAE’s biggest telecom operator, posted a 1 per cent year-on-year increase in second-quarter net profit, as the company continued to attract more customers.
Net profit rose to Dh2.2 billion in the three months ending June 30, the company said on Tuesday in a regulatory filing with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange where its shares are traded.
Revenue in the period decreased 2 per cent to Dh12.9bn from the year earlier period impacted by currency fluctuations in Pakistan and Morocco, the company said, meeting analysts estimates polled by Bloomberg.
“Etisalat Group's solid financial performance in the first half of 2019 is a result of our sincere efforts in building and investing in future networks ... and accelerating digital transformation across our operations,” said Saleh Abdullah Al Abdooli, Etisalat’s group chief executive.
Etisalat’s revenues for the first half of 2019 are almost flat at Dh25.9bn. Net profit rose 3.1 per cent year-on-year to D4.4bn in the first six months of the year.
Etisalat, which had a monopoly in the UAE until du entered the market in 2007, is rolling out ultra-high speed mobile broadband 5G services this year. The operator has teamed up with Chinese tech giant Huawei to roll out 5G across the country as it views to build about 1000 5G towers this year and became the first to sell a 5G-enabled smartphone in the Emirates.
The telecom's subscribers across all of its units reached 143 million, climbing 2 per cent over the first half of the year.
