e& has announced its Q3 2024 consolidated financial results, reporting consolidated revenue of AED14.4bn, growing 10% year-over-year in constant currency. The company’s consolidated revenues for the first nine months of 2024 were recorded at AED42.7bn, growing 9% YoY, reflecting continued growth across most verticals.
An important milestone for e& was its landmark partnership with PPF Group, acquiring a controlling stake (50 per cent plus one economic share) in the service and infrastructure companies of PPF Telecom Group (“PPF Telecom”) across Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia. This acquisition marks a significant step in e&’s ongoing global expansion ambitions. It is expected to enhance the group portfolio diversification while it continues to grow its digital services across enterprise solutions, fintech, and media and entertainment sectors. Further, this diversification will allow it to pursue its strategic ambition of transitioning to a global technology player.
e&’s total subscriber base witnessed a YoY increase of 6%, reaching 177.3 million. The total number of e& UAE subscribers reached 14.7 million, representing a YoY growth of 5%.
Announcing the results, Hatem Dowidar, Group Chief Executive Officer, e&, said: “e& continued its strong momentum in the first nine months, with consolidated revenue growing 9% in constant currency to AED 42.7bn. We scaled up e&’s telecom footprint to 20 countries, bringing our overall reach to 38 markets. This growth, coupled with our solid performance in both local and international markets, drove our consolidated net profit to reach AED8.5bn growing 10% during the first nine months. Furthermore, consolidated EBITDA reached AED19.4bn, resulting in EBITDA margin of 45%, while our telecom EBITDA margin remained resilient at 49%”.
“Now that we have completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in PPF Telecom Group, we look forward to the opportunities that will arise as we expand our global horizon, impacting the lives of over 1 billion people across the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and now Central and Eastern Europe—marking our first operational foothold in Europe. By combining our expertise with PPF Telecom’s strong local presence, we’re well-positioned to drive digital transformation and empower societies across this region,” added Dowidar.
He concluded, “e& remains dedicated to championing the UAE’s leadership vision as the country continues to advance its digital agenda as a role model of digitalisation. Our investment in cutting-edge infrastructure and strategic partnerships will ensure that we continue to deliver futuristic solutions and digital services that drive sustainable progress and transformation.”
Other highlights include e&’s $1bn agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to accelerate the impact of cloud-driven innovation and digital transformation across MENA, and its partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to promote digital inclusion and sustainable development in the Arab States region. Further, e& became one of the first telecom operators to the GSMA’s Responsible AI (RAI) Maturity Roadmap that enables telcos to assess their position in using AI responsibly. The company’s partnership with Nokia’s research arm, Nokia Bell Labs, will see both parties collaborating on research and development to create AI-based use cases for strategic industrial sectors.
Highlights for e& UAE included the opening of the second AI-powered autonomous store, EASE (e& Autonomous Store Experience), at Dubai Mall; the launch of the Fibre-To-The-Room (FTTR) service; and the introduction of the self-activated instant eSIM with 10GB of complimentary data for visitors. In addition, e& UAE achieved Platinum status in TM Forum’s Open API certification, making it the first telecommunications operator in the MENA region to receive this level of accreditation for 20 unique APIs. e& UAE also introduced a new subscription model for its Smiles app, and unveiled its Care Plus servicedesigned specifically for business customers.
e& enterprise’s performance was driven by several factors such as its 100% acquisition of GlassHouse, a leading Türkiye-based provider of managed cloud, business continuity and SAP Infrastructure services. e& enterprise also launched its Utility Co-Pilot, an innovative utility virtual assistant, available in the Microsoft Marketplace. Additionally, e& enterprise’s “end to end (E2E)” digital transformation team successfully completed Emirates Transport’s consulting engagement, helping define their digital transformation roadmap and positioning it as a preferred tech partner for its implementation.
e& life delivered robust growth, driving the group’s expansion across all consumer digital verticals. e& money achieved substantial progress, tripling its Total Gross Transaction Volume (GTV) and increasing remittance GTV by 2.4x year-over-year. The platform has issued 703,000 cards to date and attracted 1.29 million registered users, further strengthening its position in the digital financial services market and aligning with e&’s strategic vision for fintech.
Careem demonstrated exceptional growth in Q3 2024, with GTV surging 177% year-over-year and GTV per user rising by 122%, underscoring a strong and engaged user base. Additionally, Careem Plus, its monthly subscription programme’s monthly active users now surpassed 50% of the total active user base, reflecting all-time high user engagement and platform traction.
Starz On quickly gained momentum in the GCC streaming market. Since its launch in January 2024, it has amassed over 4.1 million installs, becoming the most downloaded SVOD/AVOD app in the region. With over 1,000 hours of new content and an increase of 103,000 monthly active users compared to Q2 2024, Starz On solidified its position as a leading OTT platform with 1.44 million active users. Through its partnership with evision, the group acquired premium new content, including The History Channel, History 2, and Crime+Investigation, and broadcasted the Cricket World Cup (ICC) exclusively across in MENA.
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