Emirates Telecommunications Group Company PJSC, which reports under the name etisalat, posted AED 9.2 billion in adjusted net profit for the first nine months of 2026, up 4% after one-off items were removed.
Reported net profit reached AED 17.239 billion, 45.9% above the same period a year earlier. The company’s Oct. 27 earnings release said the result included an approximately AED 8 billion gain from the Vodafone stake sale.
The adjusted comparison removes that disposal gain from 2026. It also excludes a Khazna sale gain and the impact of a Maroc Telecom settlement from the 2025 comparison, so the adjusted growth rate uses a different basis from the reported increase.
Etisalat sold its entire holding of 3,944,743,685 Vodafone ordinary shares to Vega. The transaction brought in AED 21.9 billion, equivalent to US$5.95 billion, and produced an approximately AED 8 billion net gain. The sale’s effect on reported earnings was covered in earlier EconoTimes coverage.
Operating results also advanced. Revenue rose 10% to AED 57.607 billion, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 10.3% to AED 26.714 billion. Operating free cash flow, excluding license and spectrum costs, was AED 19 billion, up 11.6%.
International revenue climbed 18.5% to AED 28.013 billion, while revenue in the UAE grew 3.1% to AED 28.544 billion. The group’s subscriber base reached 254.8 million by the end of September, 29.4% higher than a year earlier. Etisalat said adding Telenor Pakistan to its consolidated results accounted for most of the subscriber increase, with contributions from the UAE and other international markets.
The company kept its full-year guidance unchanged. Its results presentation listed debt optimization, growth investment and shareholder returns among priorities for the Vodafone sale proceeds.
