Emirates Telecommunications Corp's (Etisalat) fourth-quarter net profit rose 39 percent to 1.99 billion dirhams, but fell short of analyst forecasts. The second-largest Arab telecom operator's full-year profit rose to 8.83 billion dirhams compared with 8.51 billion for the year-ago period, Etisalat said.
Etisalat reported full-year numbers in a statement on Sunday, without giving quarterly numbers, which Reuters calculated from previous financial statements. Etisalat said full-year profit included a profit on the sale of shares in Saudi Arabia's second-largest telecom operator, Mobily. Excluding that item, 2009 profits rose 16 percent over the year-ago period, it said. Analysts forecast of Etisalat's fourth-quarter profit ranged from 2.04 billion dirhams to 2.48 billion dirhams, according to a Reuters survey. The average forecast was for a 60 percent rise in profits.
Etisalat has been on an acquisition drive to diversify revenues as the domestic market becomes saturated and competition steps up from a second operator. Mobile subscriptions rose 6 percent to 7.7 million, while fixed lines reached 1.3 million subscribers in 2009, Etisalat said. The mobile operator's internet subscriber's rose 16 percent over the previous year to 1.3 million, it said.
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