DUBAI — Abu Dhabi-listed Etisalat reported a 2.7 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on Sunday, according to Reuters calculations.
Etisalat, which directly and indirectly operates in about 18 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, made a net profit of 2.32 billion dirhams ($632 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, Reuters calculated based on the firm's full-year earnings statement in lieu of a quarterly breakdown.
This compares with a profit of 2.26 billion dirhams a year earlier, according to Reuters data.
An analyst at SICO Bahrain had forecast the former monopoly would post a quarterly profit of 2.01 billion dirhams.
The company's annual profit in 2015 was 8.265 billion dirhams compared with 2014's profit of 8.601 billion dirhams, it said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) on Sunday posted a 16.6 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit, and marginally increased its dividend for 2015.
The earnings were part of mixed fourth-quarter results for United Arab Emirates banks, with Emirates NBD and Dubai Islamic Bank posting bumper profit growth while National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Mashreq and Union National Bank saw profits fall.
ADIB, Abu Dhabi's largest sharia-compliant bank, made a net profit of 477.4 million dirhams ($130 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, compared to 409.6 million dirhams in the same period a year ago, it said in a bourse statement.
Beltone Financial had forecast the bank would make a profit attributable to shareholders of 399 million dirhams in the quarter.
For 2015, the bank said its net profit was 1.93 billion dirhams, up 10.5 percent from 2014. — Reuters
