UAE telco Etisalat posts 1% profit rise in 2019

UAE telecom operator Etisalat Group posted a 1 per cent rise in net profit for 2019, it announced on Tuesday.

Etisalat’s consolidated net profit after federal royalty reached Dhs8.7bn in 2019, marginally up from Dhs8.6bn in 2018. 

However, its consolidated revenues in 2019 amounted to Dhs52.2bn, slightly lower than Dhs52.38bn in 2018.

The 2019 EBITDA equaled Dhs26.4bn, representing an increase of 2 per cent year over year.

Etisalat’s aggregate subscriber base rose to 149 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 6 per cent, a statement said.

The group proposed a dividend payout of 40 fils per share for the second half of 2019, representing a total dividend payout of 80 fils for the full year and a dividend payout ratio of 80 per cent.

Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, chairman, Etisalat Group said: “It has become clear that the paradigm shift in the telecom industry is now in full force. Digital transformation is becoming present in more areas of life.

“5G today will give an opportunity to spur innovation across many industries while enabling emergent technologies to become an integral part of UAE economy and lifestyle.”

Using 5G technology, Etisalat aims to provide users speeds of up to upto 1Gbps and lower latency to 1 millisecond.

Read: Video: Etisalat says 5G coverage available at world’s tallest tower in Dubai

In 2020, Etisalat launched CloudTalk – a scalable cloud-based, communication and collaboration solution for small and medium businesses and enterprise customers across the country.

Read more: UAE’s telco Etisalat launches business unified communication service