DUBAI: Abu Dhabi-listed telecoms firm Etisalat missed analyst estimates by reporting a 40 percent fall in second-quarter net profit yesterday that it blamed on its troubled Saudi Arabia affiliate Mobily and foreign exchange losses.
Etisalat, which operates in about 19 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, made a net profit of Dh1.5bn ($408.4m) in the three months to June 30, the company said in a statement.
It did not provide a year-earlier figure, but its previous financial statement showed Etisalat made a profit of Dh2.51bn in the second quarter of 2014. Analysts polled had forecast the Gulf’s No.2 telecom operator by market value would post a quarterly profit of Dh2.16bn. Saudi’s Mobily, in which Etisalat owns a 27.5 percent stake, has been embroiled in an accounting scandal that has led the kingdom’s No.2 operator to restate much of its earnings from 2013 onwards.
In June, Etisalat warned Mobily’s latest restatement would cut its own 2015 net profit by Dh204m.
Etisalat said its quarterly profit slump was due to Mobily, higher depreciation and amortisation charges, bigger finance costs and foreign exchange losses, but did not provide further details or publish its second-quarter financial report.
The UAE’s former monopoly generated second-quarter revenue of Dh13.3bn, up 6 percent from a year earlier. It has approved paying a half-year dividend of 0.4 dirhams per share, up 14 percent on the same period of 2014.
Etisalat’s bought a 53 percent stake in Maroc Telecom for €4.14bn in May 2014, boosting the UAE firm’s foreign revenues.
Maroc Telecom has operations in Gabon, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Mali and this year also acquired Etisalat’s subsidiaries in six African countries. Maroc Telecom reported a second-quarter net profit of 1.51bn Moroccan dirhams, down from 1.61bn Moroccan dirhams a year earlier.
Reuters
