Etisalat Full Year Profits Up 16% After One-Off Items

UAE based Etisalat has reported a 16% rise in net profit of AED 8.84 billion (US$2.4 billion) for the full year 2009, which represents a 16% rise on 2008, once you exclude the one-off gain on the sale of shares in Mobily of AED 892 million in 2008. Etisalat recorded net revenues of AED 30.8 billion (US$8.4 billion) for the Group in 2009 compared to AED 29.4 billion in 2008, an increase of 5%.

Mohammed Omran, Chairman of Etisalat, said: "Etisalat has enjoyed another successful year in 2009. This is in spite of the difficult economic circumstances which the world's economy continues to face. These results highlight that Etisalat has followed the correct strategy by following a selective policy in our international investments. In this way, we have made use of the current financial environment to identify the brightest opportunities that have arisen as a result of this situation."

"During the past two years, Etisalat has continued its strategy of developing new sources of income. We have achieved this by introducing new packages and services which have had the desired effect of sustaining our growth even despite the high penetration level within the country, which today is one of the highest in the world. We have also been successful in reducing our operational expenditure, which further enhances our performance," he added.

Mohammed Khalfan Al Qamzi, Chief Executive Officer at Etisalat, said: "In 2009 Etisalat launched its next-generation services across its eLife network and is in the process to make Abu Dhabi the first capital city in the world to be totally connected by fiber-optic network infrastructure. In fact, our aim is that the UAE will become one of the first countries in the world to be entirely covered with fiber-optic services in 2011. This reflects our commitment to add value to the lives of our customers and provide them access to the most sophisticated and advanced services."

"Etisalat also continued to develop its mobile networks in 2009. The 2G network today covers 100% of UAE, while 3G networks cover 99.5% of the populated areas. We continue to invest in the human resources through training and qualifying programs," he added

"The number of mobile users in the UAE has exceeded 7.74mn lines in 2009, with an increase of 6 % against the same period in 2008. Fixed line subscribers reached 1.31mn and Etisalat's Internet subscriber base grew 16% over the year reaching 1.33mn million in December 2009," he concluded.