The UAE’s biggest telecom operator e& formerly known as Etisalat reported a 1.5 percent rise in second-quarter net profit as its number of subscribers grows. e&’s consolidated revenues reached AED 26.3 billion, while consolidated net profit was AED 4.9 billion, a year-over-year increase of 2.5 percent.
At constant exchange rates, revenue increased by 3.8 percent. Consolidated EBITDA remained steady in reporting currency at AED 13.4 billion, while increasing by 4.1 percent in constant currency, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 51 percent.
Net profit attributable to the owners of the company for the three months to the end of June rose to Dh2.43 billion ($745 million), compared with Dh2.39bn during the same period in 2021, the company said in a statement on Monday to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded. Revenue for the telecoms operator reached Dh12.99bn in the second quarter, 1.7 percent lower compared with the Dh13.21bn recorded in the same period last year.
The aggregate group subscribers during the period reached 160 million, up by 2.5 percent. The company board also approved an interim dividend of 40 fils per share for H1 2022. Jassem Mohamed Obaid Bu Ataba Alzaabi, chairman of e&, said the company’s first-half financial performance demonstrated its commitment, continued efforts, and relentless focus on realizing the vision of driving the digital future to empower societies. “Our success is underpinned by our drive to make a positive change in the societies we serve while adding value to our shareholders,” Ataba Alzaabi said.
“Our financial performance reinforces e&’s success story and its strong standing, tackling the challenges and rising to every opportunity to execute our ambitious plans we embarked on earlier this year and set the momentum for the remainder of 2022,” said Jassem Mohamed Bu Ataba Alzaabi, chairman of e&. In June, the company launched a new messaging platform called GoChat Messenger that allows users in the UAE to make free voice and video calls to anywhere in the world, as well as remit money, pay bills, play games, and read the latest news and run polls.
Hatem Dowidar, a Group CEO of e&, said, “e&’s financial results for the first half of this year are an outcome of our earnest endeavors to drive growth and enhance efficiencies, with a strong commitment to key strategic priorities to enable a better digital future and drive innovation. ”e& achieved good performance despite global economic challenges characterised by soaring inflation, hike in interest rates and foreign currency devaluation. We will remain resilient and see these times as opportunities to deepen our focus and invest in the long term. As we navigate through the new global economic landscape, we will focus on our goal to create and deploy innovative solutions to positively impact people’s lives.” ”We have maximized our efforts in growing our core and digital services, by enriching consumers’ value propositions with digital services that cater to their new lifestyles and emerging demands beyond basic telecom services. Our telecoms business has been the growth engine behind our company and its transformation into techno. This has helped solidify our leadership across our geographic footprint, as well as grow adjacencies organically and through acquisitions,” he added.
