UAE tech-telco churns up Dh10.3 billion as 2023 net profit
Dubai: The UAE tech-telecom holding company e& will add 3 fils for every share held each year as part of a new dividend policy. That means, for 2026, e& shareholders will be getting 89 fils a share.
For 2023, the company is paying out another 40 fils for the second-half and taking the full-year one to 80 fils. This comes off the back of a sizeable set of financials e& generated for the year. (For full-year 2023, e&’s net profit was Dh10.3 billion.)
“The strong financial performance, with consolidated revenues reaching Dh53.8 billion, a growth of 8.3 per cent year-over-year, at constant exchange rates, is a strong testament to the success of our business transformation strategy,” said Hatem Dowidar, Group CEO.
UAE Nationals hold nearly 92 per cent in the e& stock, which is one of the systemically vital one on ADX. Foreign investors account for another 8.54 per cent. It will start trading at Dh19.06.
In the last 12 months, the stock has been trading between Dh17.7 to Dh26.36.
“The 2023 dividend works out to a 4.2 per cent yield – the focus is on cash flow and so, yes, it’s a good one,” said Sameer Lakhani, Managing Director at Global Capital Partners. “Companies have become more sensitive to investor demands for distribution and that is reflective of investor activism and greater vibrancy in the markets.”
2023 e& numbers
Consolidated revenues came to Dh53.8 billion, a growth of 8.3 per cent year-over-year, at constant exchange rates, helped through the group’s ‘successful business transformation, expanding the business verticals and diversifying the revenue streams’.
Consolidated EBITDA was higher by 3.7 per cent year-over-year at constant exchange rates, to Dh26.1 billion. And which worked out to an EBITDA margin of 49 per cent, and defining the ‘strong profitability of e&’s operations’.
e& UAE closed 2023 with more than 14 million subscribers, an increase of 3 per cent, and the group’s aggregate subscribers – from its overseas operations as well – reached 169 million, an increase of 4 per cent over 2022.
“Our robust financial performance with a record net profit of AED 10.3 billion, and strong top-line growth of 3 per cent is a testament to our resilience and setting e& on the right path for future growth,” said Jassem Mohamed Bu Ataba Alzaabi, Chairman.
The e& highlights from 2023:
- The e& subsidiary, PTCL, acquired a 100 per cent stake in Telenor Pakistan, thus ‘creating innovation and market expansion synergies
- At Gitex last year, e& hit a new 5G milestone with download speed of over 13Gbps.
- It introduced the ‘world’s first’ AI-powered autonomous telecom store, ‘Ease’.
- There was also the launch of an Electric Vehicle (EV) charging service ‘Charge&Go’.
