United Arab Emirates carrier Etisalat this week posted fourth quarter net profits of Dirhams1.76bn ($479.3m), up 19.7 per cent from a year earlier. It’s an impressive return for a carrier that is operating in the newly competitive, highly saturated markets of the UAE.

The company posted profit attributable to shareholders of Dirhams7.297 bn in 2007 compared with Dirhams5.86bn in 2006, according to financial results posted on the stock market regulator’s website.

Mobile subscribers in UAE topped 7 million by the end of 2007 according to Informa Telecoms & Media. Cellular market penetration is 178 per cent.

Etisalat saw its subscriber numbers creep up from about 5.5 million at the start of 2007 to a figure approaching 6.5 million. However, its share of the mobile market reduced by 16.6 per cent since the introduction of a second carrier, Du, in February 2007.