The UAE’s Etisalat on Monday reported a flat first-quarter net profit, beating analysts’ estimates as the telecoms operator’s rising international revenue offset declines at home.
Etisalat, which operates in 17 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, made a profit of AED1.81bn (US$492.79m)in the three months to March 31, down from AED1.82bn in the year-earlier period.
Analysts polled by Reuters on average forecast Etisalat would make a quarterly profit of AED1.7bn.
The former monopoly had reported declining profits in seven of the previous eight quarters.
Quarterly revenue was AED8.2bn, up 2 percent from the corresponding period of 2011. About three-quarters of revenue in the three months to March 31 came from Etisalat’s home operations.
Domestic revenue fell 2.6 percent to AED6.09bn, but international revenue rose 21 percent to AED1.88bn.
The state-controlled firm’s profits have slid as rival operator du, which ended Etisalat’s domestic monopoly in 2007, won market share and Internet-based phone calls hit the high-margin international calls business.
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