United Arab Emirates-based telco Etisalat has suffered no impact from the global financial crisis and expects to post positive first-quarter revenue figures, according to its chief executive Mohammed Al Qamzi. Without disclosing any figures, he announced: ‘The corporation did not observe any negative effect of the financial crisis on its first quarter revenues this year. The first quarter revenues are positive.’ He added that the company’s finances had been affected by fluctuations in major foreign currencies such as the euro, however, resulting in it being more selective in its foreign investments.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, Etisalat posted an 18.7% rise in 2008 net profit to AED8.7 billion (USD2.36 billion), however, its fourth quarter net profit declined 19.3% year-on-year to AED1.42 billion.