Mobily Q4 net profit up by 39% (Saudi Arabia)
Saudi Arabia’s second-largest telecoms operator, Mobily has posted 39% percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on higher use of services and more broadband subscribers.
According to the company, net profit in the quarter reached US$389.1 million, up from 1.05 billion a year earlier.
Mobily in a separate statement stated that it plans to pay a dividend of US$0.53 for 2010. The firm made revenue of US$4.26 billion in the fourth quarter compared with US$3.47 billion in 2009, because of higher utilization rates. Broadband users exceeded 2.3 million, without providing a comparative figure. Net profit for the full-year surged 40% to US$1.12 billion.
Mobily benefits from its affiliation with Emirates Telecommunications, its biggest shareholder with a 27.4% stake, which grants it cost-competitive access to networks partially or wholly owned by the UAE-based firm.
Saudi Mobily net profit rises in Q3
Mobily, Saudi Arabia’s second-biggest telecom operator, placed a better-than-expected 41% rise in quarterly profits, assisted by a fall in the cost of international networks and higher broadband revenues.
Mobily, a.k.a. Etihad Etisalat, made US$303.5 million in the three months to Sept. 30, up compared to the previous year.
It was the highest quarterly net profit for Mobily, which competes with state-controlled Saudi Telecom and Zain Saudi Arabia, while it started up as the kingdom’s second mobile phone operator five years ago.
Mobily benefits from its affiliation with Emirates Telecommunications, its biggest shareholder, with a 27.4% stake, which grants it cost-competitive access to networks partially or wholly owned by the UAE-based firm.
Total revenues for the quarter rose 13.6% to US$1.06 billion on a year earlier, but only inched up from US$1.05 billion for the second quarter. Net operating income in the third quarter rose 38% to US$317.33 million.
Earnings per share for the nine months to end-September stood at US$1.04, up from US$0.74 a year earlier and US$0.61 in the first half of 2010.
Etisalat repairs damaged SEA-ME-WE 4 submarine cable (UAE)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The damaged SEA-ME-WE 4 submarine cable has been repaired the UAE’s incumbent telecoms operator Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) and it has also restored the company’s internet services in the region.
Cable connecting Alexandria in Egypt to the French city of Marseilles has again become the route for the Internet traffic.
A cut in the cable earlier this month disrupted the services forcing Etisalat to work with operators to carry out urgent repairs on the system and re-route traffic to minimize the impact on end-users.
Etisalat reports 5% rise in the revenue (UAE)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Revenue of AED7.945 billion (USD2.16 billion) has been generated by UAE-based telecoms company Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) for the three months ended March 31, 2010. The amount represents a 5% increase in the revenue when compared to the AED7.566 billion recorded in the same period a year earlier.
The net profit of the company totaled AED1.994 billion in the first quarter of 2010. Even the mobile subscribers’ base of the company increased from 7.341 million a year earlier to 7.71 million at March 31, 2010. The internet customers reached 1.38 million and fixed line users totaled 1.3 million.
The company has also announced that it has completed the up gradation of its network to HSPA+ in the UAE’s main cities. According to company vice president of marketing, Khalifa Al Shamsi, the service offers data rates of up to 21Mbps download and 11Mbps upload, and is available to ‘nearly 900,000 of Etisalat’s 3G mobile broadband customers across the country.
Etisalat increases its stake in Zantel to 65% (Tanzania)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An additional 14% stake in Tanzanian fixed line, internet access and mobile operator Zanzibar Telecom (Zantel) has been purchased by Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) for USD16 million. Through this deal, Etisalat raised its equity holding in the African firm to 65%.
The move of the company is aimed at increasing its influence in Africa. This is just a part of the wider plan of Etisalat to lower its reliance on revenues generated in its home market. In October 2007, Etisalat increased its stake in Zantel by 17%.
According to Etisalat’s Chief Financial Officer Salem Al Sharhan, the future is in data, information services and internet in the foreign countries and the company will continue to look for opportunities everywhere and will consider every market where it thinks it can be profitable.
Etisalat reports 8.5% decline in first quarter profits (UAE)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The first-quarter net profit of Emirates Telecommunications Corp., or Etisalat, the second-largest Arab telecom operator, fell 8.5% year-on-year to 1.99 billion U.A.E. dirhams ($543 million). Etisalat lost 31,000 mobile subscribers but gained 50,000 internet users from the previous quarter.
No figure has been provided by Etisalat for the first quarter of last year and it also did not reveal any reasons for the decline.
The company also announced that mobile subscribers in the first three months of 2010 stood at 7.71 million and fixed-line subscribers reached 1.3 million, while internet customers hit 1.38 million.
Incidentally, Etisalat’s chairman Mohammad Omran opined in February this year that the firm has enough funds to finance several acquisitions it is currently considering, including a stake in Iraq’s Korek Telecom and a move into Algeria as it continues its expansion into new markets.
Etisalat & Korek still in talk for stake sale (Iraq)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Talks between Iraqi mobile network, Korek Telecom and Etisalat are still continuing for the sale of stake of Korek Telecom to UAE based Etisalat. The size of the stake and its valuation has still not being decided resulting in the continuation of the talks.
According to Korek’s vice president, Hameed Abdullah Aqrawi, Korek Telecom and Emirates Telecommunications Corporation are still in negotiations concerning the Emirates Company buying a share in Korek which has continued for a long time since they started in February 2008 but both the companies expect to finish soon.
25 percent of Korek shares will still be traded on the Iraqi Stock Exchange which is in line with a previous agreement with the government.
Zain, Asiacell and Korek Telecom are the three operators in the country and Orascom could have been the fourth one but failed to get an operating license in the last round of auctions and had tried to set up a joint venture with Korek Telecom but that fell apart.
Etisalat to pay USD800 million to PTCL by March 2010 (Pakistan)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: USD800 million will be paid by UAE-based Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) to the Pakistani government by the end of March 2010 as part of its 2006 acquisition of 26% stake in Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL).
According to Pakistan’s minister of privatisation, Waqar Ahmed Khan, only USD1.14 billion of the USD2.6 billion purchase price has been received so far, with issues surrounding a transfer of 3,000 real estate units; under the terms of the acquisition the government agreed to transfer the properties before Etisalat made the full payment.
Payment of the outstanding balance in equal installments over five years was announced by Etisalat in December last year.
Telecom Egypt hurts Case index
CAIRO: Egypt’s main index fell for a second day, posting the biggest fluctuation among Arab equity markets. Telecom Egypt, the largest fixed-line operator in the Middle East by market value, paced the decline.
The Case Index dropped 0.8%, taking its two day decline to 2.9%. The measure rose 7.3% in September, boosted by Telecom Egypt’s move on September 19 to increase its stake by 23.5% in Vodafone Egypt Telecommunications.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Market Index fell 0.7% to 3514.16 as 22 stocks fell, 14 rose and 17 were unchanged. The measure has lost a third of its value this year on concern that prices have outpaced the prospects for corporate earnings growth. The Dow Jones DIFC Arabia Titans Index, a measure of 50 stocks in 10 Arab countries excluding Saudi Arabia, declined 0.4% to 350.96 as 19 stocks fell, 12 rose and 19 were unchanged.
The National Bank of Abu Dhabi dropped 2.3% to 25.2 dirhams. Emirates Telecommunications Corp, the largest telephone operator in the United Arab Emirates, decreased 0.8% to 19.05 dirhams.
Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index added 0.6% to 10832.8 as 69 stocks rose, 10 fell and 2 were unchanged at the end of the morning session. Bloomberg
Source- http://www.gulf-times.com
