Etisalat posts steady y-o-y rise in revenue

UAE-based telecoms operator Etisalat has announced its results for the nine months ended 30 September 2009, reporting revenue of AED22.107 billion (USD6.02 billion), up from AED20.805 billion in the same period a year earlier. Net profit for the period totalled AED6.85 billion, representing a fall from the AED7.189 billion posted in the first nine months of 2008, although the year-ago figure included an exceptional income from the sale of shares in Saudi cellco Mobily of AED892 million. Excluding this exceptional item, net profit for the first nine months of 2009 was 9% higher than the same period a year earlier. At 30 September 2009 Etisalat’s mobile subscribers in the UAE reached 7.44 million, while fixed telephony customers totalled 1.31 million and internet subscribers reached 1.27 million at the same date, representing a 10% increase year-on-year. Last week Etisalat announced it had acquired 100% of Tigo Sri Lanka from Luxembourg’s Millicom International Cellular (MIC) for USD207 million.