Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) recorded full-year profits of 8.83 billion dirham for the year 2009 at a rise of 3.76% as compared to 8.51 billion dirham posted last year.

The profit includes earnings from the company’s offloading of stake in Saudi Arabia’s Mobily. If this is excluded the net profit for the year rose by 16%.

During the year, Etisalat’s mobile subscriber base increased by 6% to 7.7 million while fixedline subscriber base increased by 1.3 million. Internet subscriber base rose 16% to 1.3 million subscribers.

The company said that it intends to increase stake in its Indian JV with Swan Telecom from existing 44.73% to 50%.