Higher revenues in its domestic market enabled United Arab Emirates-based telecommunications operator Etisalat to report a slightly higher profit on Tuesday. Etisalat said UAE revenues rose by 5.5 percent due to strong data services and use of broadband solutions, while its Moroccan affiliate Maroc Telecom also performed well as overall group revenues rose 2 percent to 52.36 billion dirhams.
Net profit attributable to equity holders climbed 1.9 percent to 8.42 billion dirhams ($2.29 billion) in 2016, Etisalat said, adding that 2015 earnings had been restated.
The company did not give details of the changes.
Fourth-quarter net profit was 2.24 billion dirhams, according to Reuters calculations as the company did not break out quarterly numbers. Profit in the fourth quarter of 2015 was 2.60 billion dirhams, according to Etisalat's website.
Analysts at SICO Bahrain had forecast a fourth-quarter 2016 profit of 2.24 billion dirhams and EFG Hermes, 2.09 billion dirhams.