Abu Dhabi-listed Etisalat reported a 40 percent fall in second-quarter net profit on Tuesday that it blamed on its Saudi Arabia affiliate Mobily and foreign exchange losses.
Etisalat, which operates in about 19 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, made a net profit of 1.5 billion dirhams ($408.4 million) in the three months to June 30, the company said in a statement.
The company did not provide a year-earlier figure, but its previous financial statements showed the company made a profit of 2.51 billion dirhams in the second quarter of 2014.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast the Gulf's No.2 telecoms operator by market value would post a quarterly profit of 2.16 billion dirhams.
Saudi's Mobily, in which Etisalat owns a 27.5 percent stake, has been embroiled in an accounting scandal that has led the kingdom's No.2 operator to restate much of its earnings from 2013 onwards.
In June, Etisalat warned Mobily's latest restatement would cut its 2015 net profit by 204 million dirhams.
The United Arab Emirates' former monopoly generated second quarter revenue of 13.3 billion dirhams, up about 6 percent from a year earlier.
