Etisalat has posted a decline in profits of almost 15 per cent, falling below analysts' expectations due to higher operating costs.
The UAE-based telecommunications firm reported second-quarter profit of Dh1.59 billion, down 14.97 per cent from Dh1.87 billion in the same period last year.
Etisalat, which operates in 18 countries, pays half of its net profit to the UAE government as a royalty fee.
The results fell short of analysts' expectations, with a poll by Reuters having forecast quarterly profits of Dh1.87 billion.
Shares in Etisalat, which are listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, fell by 0.9 per cent to Dh10.95 early on Monday.
Etisalat reported that operating costs in the second quarter rose to Dh4.99 billion from Dh4.64 billion in the same period last year.
In the UAE, Etisalat reported 7.5 million mobile subscribers, 1.1 million fixed-line subscribers and 1.4 million internet subscribers. That suggests that the operator has recovered some mobile subscribers in the second quarter, having lost thousands of customers to rival operator du.
For the first six months of this year, Etisalat's group revenues increased by 0.3 per cent to Dh15.97 billion. Its profit in the first half decreased by Dh455 million to Dh3.41 billion.
In a statement to the Abu Dhabi bourse, Etisalat said it had set its interim shareholder dividend at 25 fils per share, payable from 11 August.
bflanagan@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
MATCH INFO
Bangla Tigers 108-5 (10 ovs)
Ingram 37, Rossouw 26, Pretorius 2-10
Deccan Gladiators 109-4 (9.5 ovs)
Watson 41, Devcich 27, Wiese 2-15
Gladiators win by six wickets
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Dolittle
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen
One-and-a-half out of five stars
Fixtures:
Wed Aug 29 – Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore
Thu Aug 30 - UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman
Sat Sep 1 - UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal
Sun Sep 2 – Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore
Tue Sep 4 - Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu Sep 6 – Final
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
