Etisalat said yesterday its second-quarter net profit after royalty fell to Dh1.5 billion, as forex losses and troubles from other subsidiaries hit earnings.
Net profit tumbled 40 per cent from Dh2.5bn a year earlier, according to calculations. The company did not provide comparative figures.
The drop in second-quarter profit was owing to “higher depreciation and amortization charges, the impact of Mobily’s additional provision for accounts receivables, higher net finance costs and incurring forex losses during the period against forex gains in the same period last year”, Etisalat said.
Last month, Etisalat said it would take a hit of Dh616 million before federal royalty as accounting changes at Mobily, its Saudi unit, increased its losses for last year.
Mobily, the second-largest mobile operator in Saudi Arabia, has been under investigation by the Saudi Capital Market Authority since late last year because of alleged accounting irregularities that led to the company restating some of its earnings.
Etisalat owns a 27.5 per cent stake in Mobily.
Etisalat’s consolidated revenue was at Dh13.3bn for the second quarter, representing a 6 per cent increase year-on-year.
In the UAE, revenue for the second quarter grew by 9 per cent year on year to Dh7.5bn.
Etisalat operates in 19 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, including Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.
In the UAE market, Etisalat's subscriber base was 11.3 million in the second quarter. On a group level, Etisalat's total subscriber base reached 168 million, according to the company.
Etisalat received government’s approval to allow foreign ownership for its shares, but the company has not yet disclosed when that will happen.
“Institutional and foreign ownership of Etisalat’s equity will have a positive impact both on Etisalat’s shareholders and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange,” said Eissa Al Suwaidi, the chairman of Etisalat Group.
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Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
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