WAM ABU DHABI: The UAE's leading telecoms operator Etisalat on Monday reported a Group profit of AED 3.430 billion and a net profit after government royalty at AED 1.809 billion for the first quarter ended 31 March 2012.

Q1 Financial Highlights: Consolidated revenues year on year to AED 8.205 billion Operating profit AED 3.430 billion before federal royalty, 42 percent margin Net profit stabilized at AED 1.809 billion reflecting strong international market performance, revenue diversification in the UAE .

Robust cash position of AED 11.5 billion up from AED 9.97 billion at the beginning of the same period Q1 Operational Highlights Successful strategy of diversifying revenues across both geographies and sectors o Strong performance in international markets, particularly Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Afghanistan and Nigeria, accounting for 21 percent growth in revenue year on year o Stabilization in the UAE market with strong growth in the active subscriber base year on year increase in migration to FTTH for eLife subscribers o Demonstrating pioneering mobile innovation in various sectors including financial services and healthcare o Awarded 3G licences in Afghanistan and C?te d'Ivoire Aggregate active subscribers increased from 135 million year on year to 169 million Winner of three major international awards at Mobile World Congress Named "Most Powerful Company in the UAE" by Forbes Middle East Etisalat Group recorded first quarter revenue of AED 8.205 billion, an increase of 2 percent over the same period of the previous year. Revenue earned from international operations grew 21 percent on the same period last year. Operating margins also remained resilient, with operating profit before federal royalty of AED 3.43 billion, representing a margin of 42 percent. Etisalat maintained a healthy liquidity position with cash reserves of AED 11.5 billion.

Commenting on the Group's Q1 results, Etisalat Chairman Mr Mohammad Omran said: "Group performance has been solid for the first quarter and was capped by receiving major accolades from our global industry peers. We won three of the most prestigious international telecommunications awards at this year's Mobile World Congress in recognition of our innovations in mobile healthcare and mobile commerce, and we were named "Most Powerful Company in the UAE" by Forbes Middle East.

"I would like to thank our committed staff, loyal customers and long-term investors who are very much a part of Etisalat's exciting journey towards being a top ten global telecommunications leader." Mr Omran added: "Our growth in this first quarter is predominantly due to increased penetration into high population markets, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Nigeria and Afghanistan, as well as through developing innovative services to serve our clients better.

"Etisalat's Mobile Baby mobile healthcare platform, which is helping to combat maternal mortality in developing countries, is testament to Etisalat successfully entering strategic growth areas using its telecommunications expertise for the benefit of communities. In financial services, Etisalat has demonstrated pioneering and productive innovation in delivering m-commerce solutions for millions of people across the Middle East, Africa and Asia." Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, group chief executive officer, Etisalat, commented: "We started this year with the aim of driving innovation , excellence , down costs and delivering on our previous investments in Next Generation Networks. These goals are being realised through, among other things, the launch of the nationwide Fibre To The Home (FTTH) and Long Term Evolution (LTE - 4G) networks in the UAE, and network optimisation across the Group to give Etisalat customers in our markets of operation the best network quality and speed.

"While competition has eroded margins on voice services in our home market, our view of the telecommunications industry is that growth will continue to come from the emergent, international markets and higher margin services. Already we are seeing diversification of our revenues by services and geographies and less reliance on the UAE market.

"We have built for future growth and diversification of revenue through early investment in next generation networks both in the UAE and across our international markets. We are already seeing the benefits of this through positive growth in data revenues and Value Added Services.

"We are continuing to focus on driving cost optimization across Group operations while delivering customer oriented products and services to drive deeper penetration in new high growth sectors and emerging markets. We are well positioned for sustainable growth throughout 2012." WAM/MMYS