Abu Dhabi: Etisalat, the UAE‘s biggest telecom operator, recorded a 2.4 percent increase in its net profit owing to higher international and local income in 2018, touching the mark of Dh86 billion.

Net profit attributable to equity holders in the 12 months ended December 31 jumped to Dh8.6 billion from a year earlier, it said in a statement on Wednesday to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.

The company did not disclose its fourth quarter results.

This increase is mainly attributed to the growth in revenues of international operations and strong performance of fixed and other segments in the UAE.

Revenue during the period grew 1.4 per cent to Dh52.4bn. Etisalat’s earnings per share grew slightly to Dh0.99 in 2018.

Etisalat, which had a monopoly in the UAE until du entered the market in 2007, exited from its Nigerian operations in 2017. The company, which owns and operates subsidiaries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, has signed an agreement with Telecom Egypt to provide the first voice services over an LTE network in the country.

The telco also owns a 28 per cent stake in Saudi telecoms company Etihad Etisalat (Mobily). It is also set to introduce limited 5G services, the ultra-high speed mobile broadband, in the first quarter 2019.

The company’s audited financials will be disclosed after an approval from the board of directors in their meeting scheduled on February 19.

SOURCE: THE NATIONAL