Etisalat's subscribers and revenue up in Q1

ABU DHABI - Broadband users grow by 6% as demand rises

Earnings of Emirates Telecommunication Company, or etisalat, dropped eight per cent to Dh2 billion in the first quarter.
The telecom firm's consolidated profits after federal royalty decreased, resulting in lower profit margin of two points to 16 per cent.
"The decrease in profit is attributed to lower Ebitda level, higher depreciation expenses, forex losses compared to forex gain in prior year and higher minority interest," a regulatory statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange said. Revenue grew one per cent year-on-year to Dh12.9 billion, it added.
The first-quarter revenues were impacted by unfavourable exchange rate movements in Morocco, Egypt and Pakistan. Consolidated operating expenses rose three per cent year-on-year to Dh8.3 billion, the statement said.
In the UAE, revenue rose one per cent to Dh7.3 billion and six per cent quarter-on-quarter, due to "growth of the subscriber with increased bundled offerings in voice and data". Strong performance of the fixed-broadband segment and increased offering of ICT solutions also helped surged in revenues in the quarter. Revenues from international operations rose four per cent to Dh5.5 billion, the regulatory statement to the ADX said. Analysts at EFG Hermes and Sico Bahrain forecast the company would post a quarterly profit of Dh1.93 billion and Dh1.99 billion, respectively.
Etisalat said its lower profit was due to factors including higher depreciation expenses and foreign exchanges losses in the quarter against currency gains in the corresponding period of 2015.
The company had 165 million subscribers as of March 31, down 1.8 million in the year, impacted by subscribers disconnections in compliance with the regulatory mandated registration in various markets.
However, quarter-over-quarter subscribers grew 1.1 per cent due to operations in the UAE, Egypt, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Mali, Ivory Coast, Benin and Niger.
In the UAE, the active subscriber base grew to 12 million in the quarter, growing six per cent year-on-year and three per cent quarter-over-quarter. Subscribers' growth continued to be driven by strong performance of mobile and eLife segments in the country, it said.
The mobile subscriber base grew seven per cent year-on-year to over 10 million representing a net addition of 0.7 million subscribers, of which 33 per cent was in the high-quality postpaid segment.
Total broadband segment grew by six per cent to 1.1 million subscribers. Etisalat CEO Saleh Abdullah Al Abdooli said: "Etisalat Group's first-quarter results are a continuation of the strong performance the company has achieved over the years. Despite a challenging set of circumstances facing the telecoms industry today, Etisalat Group continues to deliver strong performance and value for its shareholders and customers."
- haseeb@khaleejtimes.com