The company, which operates in 18 countries, made a profit of Dh1.71 billion in the three months to September.Etisalat, the Gulf\'s largest telco by market value, reported an almost one per cent drop in third quarter net profit on Tuesday.The company, which operates in 18 countries, made a profit of Dh1.71 billion in the three months to September, against Dh1.74 billion in the year-before period as operating costs rose faster than revenues. etisalat, which unveiled its highly-anticipated long-term evolution (LTE) high-speed network last month, said revenues rose 8.6 per cent to Dh8.04 billion in the quarter, up from Dh7.4 billion a year earlier. However, operating expenses increased 22.3 per cent over the same period. etisalat shares slumped to a 13-month low of Dh9.99 on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on Monday.