UAE’s Etisalat Q4 Profit Rises 70%

Etisalat, the United Arab Emirates No.1 telecom operator, reported a 70 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday.

The former monopoly, which operates in about 15 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, made a net profit of Dhs1.45 billion ($394.77 million) in the three months to December 31, according to Reuters calculations.

This compares with a profit of 854 million dirhams a year earlier.

Etisalat’s 2013 net profit was 7.08 billion dirhams, the government-controlled company said in a bourse statement on Tuesday, up from 6.74 billion dirhams in 2012.