UAE's Etisalat Q1 profit falls 8.9 pc

DUBAI: UAE's Etisalat, the Middle East's largest telecoms operator by value, on Monday said its first-quarter net profit fell 8.9 percent, missing analysts forecasts as operating expenses rose.

The former monopoly, also known as Emirates Telecommunications Corp, reported a first-quarter profit of 1.82 billion ($496 million) dirhams, down from 1.99 billion dirhams in the year-earlier period.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the firm to post a quarterly profit of 1.99 billion dirhams.

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Etisalat had 7.43 million mobile subscribers, 1.13 million fixed line subscribers and 0.49 million internet subscribers by March-end, the firm said in a statement on the Abu Dhabi bourse.

Revenues climbed 2.1 percent to 8.04 billion dirhams, but operating expenses increased at a faster rate, rising 11.3 per cent.

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In March, Etisalat withdrew plans to bid for Syria's third mobile licence, saying the terms did not offer sufficient value for shareholders, while earlier last month it also scrapped a $12 billion takeover of Kuwait's Zain.

Etisalat shares closed up 0.5 per cent on the Abu Dhabi bourse prior to the results.