Etisalat announced on Sunday net profits of AED 8.8bn ($ 2.4 bn) for 2009. The year before (2008) Etisalat made AED 8.5bn in net profit. The company said in a statement that it had achieved revenues of AED 30.8 bn, which is an increase of 5% compared to 2008. The total assets for Etisalat increased by 13 percent to AED 40.4 bn compared to the AED 35.6 bn in 2008.

Mohammed Omran, the chairman of Etisalat, stated: “Etisalat has enjoyed another successful year in 2009. This is in spite of the difficult economic circumstances which the world’s economy continues to face. These results highlight that Etisalat has followed the correct strategy by following a selective policy in our international investments.” He also said that Etisalat had continued its strategy of developing new sources of income and had also been successful in reducing operational expenditure.

Mohammed Khalfan Al Qamzi, CEO of Etisalat, added “The number of mobile users in the UAE exceeded 7.74 m in 2009, with an increase of 6 percent against the same period in 2008.” Etisalat’s land-line subscribers amount to 1.31 m and Etisalat’s internet user-base grew 16 percent over the year to reach 1.33 m million in December 2009.