Etisalat’s 2020 net profit rises 3.8% to Dh9bn | The National

Etisalat’s 2020 net profit rises 3.8% to Dh9bn | The National

Etisalat, the UAE's biggest telecom operator, reported a 3.8 per cent annual increase in net profit in 2020 despite a marginal decline in revenue.

Net profit attributable to equity holders in the 12 months ended December 31 rose to Dh9.03 billion, compared to Dh8.69bn a year earlier, the company said in a statement on Sunday to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares trade.

Revenue during the period decreased 0.9 per cent to Dh51.7bn.

“This is mainly attributable to Covid-19 pandemic that resulted in temporary lockdown, restricted mobility and travel ban resulting in reduced activities in most of our markets that negatively impacted revenue,” Etisalat said.

These are the preliminary results and the audited financials for the 2020 and the fourth quarter will be disclosed on February 22.

Etisalat, which had a monopoly in the UAE until the country's second telecoms operator du entered the market in 2007, said its operating profit increased 10.3 per cent annually to more than Dh13bn last year.