Thursday, May 03, 2012
(This story was originally published Wednesday.)
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Telecommunications Co. (ETISALAT.AD), or Etisalat, will focus on growing its existing operations and could consider exiting, or consolidating, some of its assets over the next couple of years, the telco's chief executive said Wednesday.
"The main focus will be existing portfolios. Growth opportunities, innovation, and efficiency over the next 2-3 years," Ahmad Abdul Karim Julfar, Etisalat Group CEO told a conference in Dubai. "Within this portfolio we have a few markets which we are revisiting. Should we stay, should we consolidate, or should we divest."
Julfar said Etisalat's strategy over the next two-to-three years will be "different" and "very selective and very careful" in terms of future investments.
Etisalat, the Middle East's biggest telecom provider by market value, last week said net profit in the three months ending Mar. 31 amounted to 1.81 billion U.A.E. dirhams ($493 million), little changed from AED1.82 billion in the year earlier.
Faced with growing pressure in its local market, Etisalat has increasingly look abroad for revenue growth. The company said on April 23 that income from its international operations rose 21% to AED2.28 billion in the first quarter, compared with the year before period.
The telco's expansion overseas hasn't always proved plain sailing however.
In March, Etisalat stopped mobile phone services in India where it operated as Etisalat DB. Its decision to shut down and leave the country came after India's Supreme Court in February ordered the cancellation of 122 licenses for second-generation, or 2G, phone services, which were issued to several companies in 2008, following complaints of irregularities in their allotment. Of the total, Etisalat DB held 15 licenses.
In light of this event, Etisalat in February recognized an impairment charge in its 2011 financial statements amounting to AED3.04 billion.
Etisalat shares last traded 0.4% down at AED8.65.
-By Shereen El Gazzar, Dow Jones Newswires, +9714 446 1684 Shereen.elgazzar@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-05-12 0347GMT
