UAE’s Etisalat to give back unrealized profits received from Mobily: Report

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat), the major shareholder and founder of Mobily, is expected to return the paper share profit it received from Mobily due to accounting errors in the latter’s financial statements, Makkah newspaper quoted an unnamed​ legal source as saying.

The UAE-based telecom operator’s board members get their remuneration as a percentage of the net profits, which were overstated in Mobily’s books because of the wrong figures recognized as net earnings instead of sales for some sectors, services, and products.

Saudi Arabia’s ministry of commerce, the Capital Market Authority and the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants should closely watch the related investigations and appoint an impartial independent panel to ensure fair procedures, the report pointed out.

According to data available on Argaam, Mobily had earlier restated its financial statements. This mistake also required Mobily to restate its revenues, net profits, and related figures for previous quarters.

Mobily’s board had mandated the audit committee to determine liability towards the restatements.