By: Mahmoud Gamal

Dubai-Mubasher: The only two telecom operators listed on UAE stock markets, Etisalat and du, posted a 27.1% rise year-on-year in its profits during the second quarter of 2016.

Both operators posted profits of AED 3.05 billion ($830 million) in Q2-16, compared to AED 2.40 billion ($653 million) in Q2-15. Total revenues reached AED 16.39 billion in Q2-16, up 1.05% from AED 16.22 billion in the prior-year period.

In H1-16, profits advanced 10.7% to AED 5.91 billion from AED 5.34 billion in H1-15. Revenues also grew 1% to AED 32.33 billion in H1-16, compared to AED 32 billion in H1-15.

Abu Dhabi-listed Etisalat reported a 37% rise in its profits to AED 2.602 billion ($708 million) in Q2-16, compared to AED 1.900 billion ($517 million) in Q2-15. Revenues also reached AED 13.33 billion in Q2-16, compared to AED 13.12 billion in Q2-16.

In H1-16, profits grew 14.5% to AED 4.98 billion in H1-16 from AED 4.35 billion in H1-15. Revenues also climbed 1.3% year-on-year to stand at AED 26.18 billion in H1-16.

On another note, Dubai-listed du achieved profits of AED 445.4 billion ($121.23 million) in Q2-16, a 11.3% decline from AED 502 billion ($136.64 million) in Q2-15. Revenues fell to AED 3.07 billion in Q2-16 from AED 3.09 billion in Q2-15.

Profits declined 6.4% year-on-year to reach AED 925.53 million in the first six months of 2016. However, revenues increased 0.33% year-on-year to AED 6.16 billion in H1-16.

Etisalat and du posted “good” results despite fluctuations in currencies, intensifying competition and increasing challenges as some customers moved towards online applications and programmes that offer free calls, according to capital market analyst Waleed Khattab.

Both telecom operators have decided to pay AED 4 billion worth of dividends for H1-16, according to a statement published earlier.

Such payments reflect the operators’ strategy to continuously distribute dividends, thus attracting more investments to their stocks, Khattab added.

Translated by: Julian Nabil