Just as MTN announced that its investors should expect a decline in first-half earnings, Abu Dhabi-listed telecoms firm Etisalat yesterday reported a 40% fall in second-quarter net profit. It also blamed the fall on foreign exchange losses and its Saudi Arabia affiliate Mobily.
Etisalat, which operates in 19 countries with 168 million subscribers across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, including Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, made a net profit of 1.5 billion dirhams ($408.4 million) in the three months to June 30.
The company did not provide a year-earlier figure, but its previous financial statements showed the company made a profit of 2.51 billion dirhams in the second quarter of 2014.
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.
