Etisalat posts record first quarter profit

UAE incumbent Etisalat has posted a record profit in the first quarter of 2008. Net income in the three months to 31 March 2008 rose 15.5% year-on-year to AED2.12 billion (USD577.3 million), the company said in a statement on the Abu Dhabi bourse website. It reported a 4% increase in mobile phone subscriptions since the start of the year, reaching 6.63 million. CEO Mohammed al-Qamzi told Reuters news agency that the company was adding about a million mobile phone users per year in the UAE, and expected foreign operations to contribute more to profit this year as the UAE home market matures. ‘Foreign countries will contribute more this year, [led by] Saudi Arabia,’ said Qamzi, adding that he expected full-year profit growth to exceed the 15.5% recorded in the first quarter. Etisalat operates in 16 countries across the Middle East and North Africa. Earlier this month it revealed that it was looking to enter the Indian market, and was holding talks with several companies, including Spice Communications, about possible acquisitions.