Etisalat logs net profit decline of 40 percent in Q2

(MENAFN) Telecom firm Etisalat reported a 40 percent fall of its second-quarter net profit that, blamed on its troubled Saudi Arabia affiliate Mobily and foreign exchange losses, The Peninsula Qatar reported.

The Abu Dhabi-listed firm, which operates in about 19 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, made a net profit of USD408.4 million in the three months to June 30, the company said in a statement.

Compared to the same quarter last year, the company's net profit dropped from USD683.2 million. However, the figure missed analysts' forecasts which indicated the operator to log a profit of USD 587.9 million.

Saudi's Mobily, in which Etisalat owns a 27.5 percent stake, has been caught in an accounting scandal that has led the kingdom's No.2 operator to restate much of its earnings from 2013 onwards.