Business Bureau, Gulf Today

Etisalat Group announced on Tuesday its consolidated financial statements for the 12 months ending December 31, 2019. Aggregate subscriber base reached 149 million, representing Year over Year increase of 6 per cent.

Twelve month consolidated revenues hit Dhs52.2 billion mark, while consolidated net profit after Federal Royalty for the twelve month amounted to Dhs8.7 billion an increase of 1 per cent compared to same period last year.

Consolidated EBITDA amounted to Dhs26.4 billion, representing an increase of 2 per cent year over year and resulting in EBITDA margin of 51 per cent.

Proposed dividend payout of 40 fils per share for the second half of 2019, representing a total dividend payout of 80 fils for the full year and a dividend payout ratio of 80 per cent Credit Ratings by agencies S & P Global and Moodys affirmed Etisalat Group’s high credit rating at AA-/Aa3. Etisalat named ‘The Most Valuable Consumer Brand’ and ‘The Most Valuable Telecom Brand’ in MEA region in 2019 by Brand Finance Etisalat network ranked as the fastest mobile network in Mena and fastest fixed broadband network in GCC, Africa and Arabian region UAE ranked as number one in Fiber Optic Network deployment for the third year in a row UAE ranked 2nd globally in mobile broadband speed in December ‘19 Maroc Telecom completes the acquisition of Tigo Chad Commercial launch of 4G in Burkina Faso and 3G network in Central African Republic Etisalat announces the First End-to-End 5G Stand-Alone Technology implementation in Mena Region Etisalat sets global milestone with over 3.1Gbps download throughput over its 5G Stand Alone network Etisalat introduces Multi-Access Edge Computing architecture delivering best-in-class video streaming performance for 5G networks Etisalat deploys 5G network at the tallest building in the world ‘Burj Khalifa’, Abu Dhabi’s new international airport and ‘Etisalat Metro Station’ Etisalat Digital and Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) partner to transform Dubai’s Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) enabling the roll out of smart devices, services and platforms to drive efficiencies across public amenities, energy consumption, asset and building management.

Etisalat partners with Microsoft to provide public/private entities, large, small and medium enterprises with state of the art digital transformative solutions Etisalat launches e-Wallet, the new mobile digital payment service in collaboration with Noor Bank Etisalat Digital teams up with Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (ADDA) to launch Scale AD (Abu Dhabi) innovation programme Etisalat launches UAE’s first cloud gaming service Etisalat opens ‘Smiles UAE’ application to all residents and visitors in the UAE Etisalat unveiled Robotic Centre of Excellence to deliver automated solutions for greater customer satisfaction

In his statement Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Chairman, Etisalat Group, said: “As we begin our journey into the next decade, 2019 was a testimony to Etisalat Group leadership locally, regionally and internationally. Etisalat continued reinforcing its core business, explore new growth opportunities, while transitioning to the digital era and being well geared for the future.

“Etisalat’s performance in the past year is a reflection of the company’s capabilities and agility to transform and lead in the digital space driven by our robust vision and strategy. 5G today will give an opportunity to spur innovation across many industries while enabling emergent technologies to become an integral part of UAE economy and lifestyle.

 “This was only possible due to a decade of continuous support and vision of the UAE leadership, the loyalty of our customers and the trust of our shareholders. A special thanks to Etisalat management team for their commitment and dedicated work towards the realisation of Etisalat’s vision and strategic goals.”

Expressing his views, Engineer Saleh Abdullah Al Abdooli, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat, said: “Our successful journey in 2019 was driven by realising our goals of digital innovation and transformation in a rapidly evolving industry across the societies and markets we serve.

“Investing for growth, sustaining a superior infrastructure, possessing differentiated assets, platforms and capabilities were integral to building a network for a better future across our markets. Etisalat today is recognised as the most valuable consumer and telecom brand in the MEA region for the third and fourth consecutive year respectively, an illustration of our long-standing efforts and testament to building a successful telecom brand in the region.

“5G is a game changer with Etisalat taking the lead in the launch of the network which will amplify the use of futuristic services, target new opportunities and implement 5G use cases across verticals. This has also set the roadmap for services based on emerging technologies such as IoT, cloud, big data, AI, robotics, autonomous, AR/VR, becoming a trusted partner that supports transformation in a digitally disrupted and fully connected world. Our continuous investments in the network also led Etisalat to be recognised as Mena’s fastest mobile network and GCC, Africa, Arabian region’s fastest fixed broadband network.