The general assembly of etisalat yesterday approved the recommendation of the board of directors to distribute dividends at 35 per cent of nominal share value for the second half of 2009, taking the total dividend awarded by the telecom firm in 2009 to be 60 per cent.
The corporation has declared a total dividend of Dh0.60 per share for 2009, representing a dividend yield of 5.45 per cent. The company's share price grew by 33 per cent in 2009.
In addition, the company will make a royalty payment of Dh8.8 billion to the Federal Government.
Shareholder's dividends amounting Dh 3.9 billion, an increase of 20 per cent from 2008, will be distributed on April 18.
During the annual general meeting held yesterday, the general assembly also decided, to issue 10 per cent bonus shares.
The company's consolidated revenue for 2009 increased five per cent to Dh30.8 billion. The company's earnings per share (EPS) rose by 4.2 per cent to Dh1.23 per share.
The strong cash flow drove the company's cash balance to Dh11.3 billion, while the net debt position of Dh 7.5 billion.
Mohammad Omran, Chairman of etisalat said "Despite the economic crisis and its impact on the whole world even the strongest sectors – etisalat still achieved growth and positive results. We continue to make strategic investments to help us secure our future and ensure shareholder value in the long-term."
He, however, said the company was not immune to the slowdown. "Our sales growth was impacted in selected markets and margins came under pressure as customers rationalised their total spending and as competition intensified across all markets, including the UAE." He said the situation further worsened by unfavourable movements in foreign exchange rates.
"However, we responded by enhancing our product portfolio and adding several value-for-money offerings. In addition, we rationalised our investments and expenditure and placed more focus on solidifying our financial strength and liquidity. The company leveraged its advanced 3G and WiMax networks to introduce attractive wireless broadband offers increasing the overall value proposition and creating new segments in the market," said Omran.
"We maintained our disciplined approach in our international strategy and evaluated investment opportunities more cautiously. We improved our presence in the Asian market by adding Tigo, the second mobile operator in Sri Lanka to our international portfolio.
"This acquisition fits into our expansion strategy and will be accretive to shareholders long term value. As for the rest of our portfolio, we keep investing to improve capacity, coverage and quality to enable us to build market share," he said.