India licence crisis hangs over Etisalat’s full-year results

In a statement to the Abu Dhabi stock exchange, Etisalat has said it will book an impairment charge on its 2011 financial statements of AED3.04 billion (US$827 million) relating to its Indian assets. The net impact of this charge on consolidated net profit is expected to be AED1.02 billion.

The operator reported full-year 2011 net profit of AED5.84 billion, down 23.4 per cent compared with AED7.63 billion a year ago, affected by the India operation impairment charge.

Etisalat owns a 45 per cent stake in start-up Indian cellco Etisalat DB, a joint venture with local partner Swan Telecom, which was one of the eight firms awarded licences in the now controversial 2G spectrum auction in 2008.

The UAE telco paid US$900 million for its 45 per cent stake in 2008, and has gone on to invest more than US$1 billion in the venture.