The announcement followed a board meeting held on Tuesday at Etisalat head office in Abu Dhabi,

The board members also discussed revenues and profits of the fiscal year 2010.

Etisalat has earlier distributed dividends at 25 percent for the first half of 2010, taking the total dividend for 2010 to 60 percent.

Etisalat Chairman Mohammed Hassan Omran and board members lauded the financial results for the year 2010, with net revenue of AED31.9 billion, which is two percent higher than year 2009 net revenues of AED31.3 billion.

Net assets for 2010 also recorded a five percent growth over 2009 from AED40.4 billion to AED42.6 billion. Etisalat also announced a net profit of AED15.2 billion, before deducting royalty fee amounting to AED7.6 billion, which is 50 percent of total net profit.

Earnings per share reached AED0.97 during 2010. “Etisalat’s financial results in 2010 reflect the corporation’s long-term expansion strategy that began over five years ago,” Omran said.

“While local markets have reached saturation, the international markets have tremendous potential and Etisalat has started to reap the benefits of its international investments. The increasing contribution in revenues generated from international markets shows the importance of this expansion plan and clearly points out the positive impact it has on the financial results. The growth of the international group revenue, excluding the UAE, has reached 46% as compared to 2009,” he added.