Etisalat third quarter profit rises by 15pc

Nine-month net income advanced to Dh5.5 billion ($272 million) and sales rose 30 per cent to Dh15.3 billion, Etisalat said in an e-mailed

statement yesterday. This equates to third-quarter net income of Dh1.8 billion up from Dh1.5 billion a year earlier, according to Bloomberg data.

The result was lower than HC Brokerage's estimate of a 24 per cent increase for the quarter. Etisalat has 6.2 million mobile-phone subscribers in the United Arab Emirates, giving it a penetration rate of 147 per cent, the company said.

Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat has been expanding overseas as competition in its home market intensifies. The company's main rival, Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Co., became the country's second operator in February, ending more than two decades of monopoly by state-owned Etisalat.