Suffocating under the weight of its public debt, Dubai Holding’s telecom unit is aiming to conclude the sale of stakes in two more telecom firms within the next few months as part of its strategy to sell off assets held by state-linked companies.

The state-owned Dubai Holding is one of a string of such companies trying to recover from a 2009 property crash, with state-linked companies facing debt repayments of about $50 billion over the next three years.

Its unit, Emirates International Telecommunications LLC (EIT) is looking to sell its 35 per cent stake in Tunisia’s state-owned Tunisie Telecom and a 26 per cent stake in Dubai-based mobile phone retailer Axiom Telecom – in a move that analysts believe could raise up to US$1 billion.

But speaking this week, EIT Chief Executive Deepak Padmanabhan said that apart from these two holdings, no other sales were planned, and added that EIT’s investments in Malta, with GO, and were doing well.

“All our assets [in Malta and Greece] are performing well on a year-on-year basis,” he said.

In an interim directors statement issued this week, GO said that the company is continuing to perform well, having increased its client base which exceeds 500,000 customer connections, but that average revenue per user continues to suffer, leading to a marginal reduction in retail revenues.

Revenues, GO said, are also being negatively impacted as a direct consequence of regulation, “which is aggressively driving down fixed line and mobile voice termination rates”.

The company said it is “encouraged” that in spite of pressure on its traditional revenue streams, the group continues to enjoy healthy levels of revenue across all its main products, enjoying growth in broadband, TV and mobile connections.

“Ongoing efforts to contain costs have mitigated the reduction in revenue allowing the Group to maintain healthy levels of profitability and cash generation. Current cash holdings and banking facilities are adequate to ensure that the Group has the ability to execute its strategy in the medium term,” GO said.

GO’s directors noted the company’s “a significant investment programme through which it is upgrading its various networks and introducing new technologies” and that earlier this year it completed the rollout of a new nationwide mobile network – providing superior mobile coverage and data speed.

The company also noted its recently signed contract with Ericsson through which it will completely upgrade its fixed-line core network, while earlier this month a similar contract was signed with Alcatel Lucent to upgrade the mobile core infrastructure.

“These projects are an integral part of the company’s ongoing plans to modernise its core systems to complement investments made in the group’s access networks as the Group rolls out FTTH and 4G,” the interim statement observed.

“These significant investments in technology are complemented by the launch of various attractive value propositions to ensure that the group’s customer base has access to the best possible technology at affordable price levels.

“This strategy is delivering positive results as the group retains significant market share.”

On Greece, where GO holds a significant share in Forthnet, GO noted that the Greek telecom provider is set to announce its third quarter 2013 results by the end of November.

“In the meantime, Forthnet is progressing with the Rights Issue process as it aims to raise €30 million. The company is awaiting the release of the Forthnet prospectus, at which stage the company will be able to determine whether or not to participate in the Rights Issue process.”