Abu Dhabi-listed Etisalat reported a 22% rise in third-quarter net profit yesterday as rising domestic income, lower taxes and the firm’s takeover of Maroc Telecom bolstered its bottom line.
The UAE’s former telecommunications monopoly, which operates in 19 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, made a net profit of 2.22bn dirhams ($598.97mn) in the three months to September 30, it said.
This compares with a profit of 1.83bn dirhams in the year-earlier period.
Four analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast Etisalat, the Gulf’s No 2 telecommunications operator by market value, would make a quarterly profit of 2.65bn dirhams.
Quarterly revenue was 13.2bn dirhams, up from 9.59bn dirhams a year earlier.
Domestic third-quarter revenue rose 10% to 6.8bn dirhams, while 48% of group revenue came from Etisalat’s international units, up from 35% in the year-ago period.
This follows Etisalat’s purchase of a 53% stake in Morocco’s Maroc Telecom for €4.14bn in May. Former monopoly Maroc Telecom also has operations in Gabon, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Etisalat’s international operations will account for at least 50% of group revenue in the future, Etisalat chief executive Ahmad Julfar said in a statement.
“Africa remains an important strategic region for our business,” he said.
Emaar
Dubai’s Emaar Properties, the builder of the world’s tallest tower, reported a 21% rise in third-quarter net profit yesterday.
The rise came despite a fall in revenue stemming from a second successive quarterly drop in home sales as the emirate’s property market showed further signs that recent rampant price growth was abating.
The developer, in which the government has a 31.2% stake, did not provide an explanation for the profit rise.
It made a net profit of 701mn dirhams ($191mn) for the three months to September 30, it said in a statement. That compared with a profit of 581mn dirhams in the year-earlier period.
The earnings missed an estimate by brokerage SICO Bahrain, which had forecast Emaar’s quarterly profit would be 762.4mn dirhams.
The profit increase came despite revenue in the quarter dropping to 1.98bn dirhams from 2.35bn dirhams a year ago.
Homes sales slowed for a second quarter this year with Emaar selling units worth 1.5bn dirhams in the period, down from 2.7bn dirhams in the corresponding period in 2013, according to Reuters calculations.
