UAE Etisalat says Mobily restatement to hurt 2014 profit

Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) is expecting its 2014 profits to plunge by about AED 616 million due to accounting errors at Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily), which led the Saudi-based operator to restate financial results for 2014 and Q1-2015.

The Abu Dhabi-listed telco also expects its Q2-2015 consolidated net profit to see a negative impact of AED 204 million after Mobily said it would take an additional SAR 800 million in provisions from Zain Saudi.

The restatement came after a team appointed by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) conducted a probe into Mobily and raised concerns over some contracts with customers.

Saudi Arabia’s second largest mobile operator said on Saturday that it expects 2014 losses to widen by SAR 830 million to SAR 1.745 billion. The telco added that it had revised its accounting policies following the CMA investigation.

Etisalat owns 27.45 percent of Mobily.