Etisalat Group Q1 2015 revenue surges 30% on strong Nigerian growth

Etisalat Group’s consolidated revenue for first quarter (Q1) 2015 ended March 31, surged by 30 percent year-on-year (y/y) to N698.9 billion (AED12.9bn) on strong growth in the Nigerian market, among others.

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based telecoms firm, has seen a strong start to 2015 with a net profit of N119.2 billion (AED2.2bn) in the first three months of 2015 – an 8 percent increase in net profit y/y.

The Group’s aggregate subscriber base also reached 173 million – up 19 percent y/y, a net addition of 28 million subscribers over the last 12 months.

Ahmad Julfar, Group’s CEO, while commenting on the consolidated financial statements for Q1 2015, said “the strong financial results in the first quarter of 2015 were not only built upon our strong performance in 2014, but also provide a solid foundation for the remainder of the year. Continued growth in revenue, profits and subscribers in Q1 continues a pattern of growth that we have experienced over a long period. It is this solid foundation which allows us to move forward in confidence as the leading operator in emerging markets, delivering advancements in each of the countries we operate in.”

Etisalat Nigeria posted a strong mobile subscriber growth in Q1 with y/y growth of 19 percent to 22.2 million subscribers as of March 31, 2015 – a quarter-on-quarter growth of 5 percent. According to latest Monthly Subscribers statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the number of active lines increased to 142,589,775 in February from 140,822,837 recorded in the month of January.

According to the Q1 2015 financial statements, revenue in Nigeria was muted by the naira devaluation surging by 2.9 percent to N56.3 billion from N54.7 billion the year before, while EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margin climbed to 16 percent from 11 percent.

Capital expenditure declined to 14 percent of revenue from 43 percent in the Q1 a year before and 42 percent in the previous quarter (Q4 2014), because of timing factors, the report said.

The Group’s net addition of 28 million subscribers in the last 12 months was mainly as a result of strong growth in Nigeria, UAE and Afghanistan as well as the sale of six West African operations of Atlantique Telecom to Maroc Telecom.

Etisalat Group successfully completed the sale of its wholly-owned West African subsidiary Atlantique Telecom, which had mobile operations in Benin Republic, Central African Republic, Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger Republic and Togo, alongside Cote d’Ivoire-based IT service provider Prestige Telecom, to Moroccan incumbent telco Maroc Telecom earlier in the year.

“While our operations across the region continue to grow, our position in the UAE remains as strong as ever. Subscribers to our range of services continue to increase and we are constantly looking to bring new solutions to market. In this quarter, we launched trials for advanced single carrier technology, which will bring even greater speeds to customers and we continue to support the government’s drive for Smart Cities,” Julfar said.

Already in Nigeria – Bayelsa, Ondo, Katsina, Lagos, Cross Rivers states, and the FCT, have signed on the smart state initiative while Anambra, Delta, Gombe and Osun states have agreed in principle to become Smart States as the government remains committed to reducing the cost of broadband in the country.

Dan Ojabo