Etisalat Q2 Profit Up 17 Pct; To Focus On High Growth Mkts

Etisalat, the Gulf’s No.2 telecoms operator, posted a 17-percent rise in quarterly profits on Wednesday, topping forecasts, and said it would shift its focus to high growth, populous markets in the Arab world, Africa, Asia to drive revenues.

The Abu Dhabi-based operator, which operates in 17 countries, saw higher revenue from its international operations partly offset slipping local business.

Etisalat second-quarter net profit of 1.9 billion dirhams ($517.28 million) in the three months to June 30, up from 1.59 billion dirhams in the year-earlier period.

Analysts forecast average profit of 1.78 billion dirhams, in a Reuters poll.

Quarterly revenue rose 4 percent to 8.3 billion dirhams from 7.93 billion dirhams a year ago.

The former monopoly reported a 0.4-percent drop in revenue from its home market over last year while sales from overseas operations rose 14 percent to 2.3 billion dirhams.

Reuters