UAE's Etisalat Q4 net profit rises 2.7 pct

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.