CAIRO: Emirati giant mobile operator, Etisalat, reported a net profit of 1.81 billion dirhams or $493 million in 1st Q of 2012: profits that beat estimates of analysts, who forecast smaller figures for 1st Q. For the Abu Dhabi-based company, 60 percent owned by the government, and which operates in 17 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, it has clarified that its international revenue before taxes and operational costs was 2.28 billion dirhams, up 21 percent. A press release further elucidated that Etisalat's international gains helped first-quarter total revenue rise 2 percent to 8.2 billion dirhams. Etisalat Egypt has helped gains in the parent company, as its operations in Egypt have grown about 22 percent in a year after Mubarak was toppled in Feb 2011. “Egypt mobile market is the biggest in the Middle East, we've posted good figures for Etisalat in the wake of Egypt's revolution,” a private source in the company told Bikyamasr.com. “We will hit better figures in coming months, as we work according to a prominent plan to get more customers, which means more profits,” he added. Etisalat's first rival in UAE market, DU operator, which ended Etisalat's domestic monopoly in 2007, claims 46 percent of UAE mobile subscribers: that means there may be a reshuffle in Etisalat after DU posted better figures than it did in the 1st Q of this year.
