Du Q3 net profit doubles

UAE telecoms provider du's third quarter profit more than doubled on strong revenue growth, spurred by a jump in mobile and fixed line subscribers.

Du said on Monday it made a net profit of Dh163.1 million ($44.4 million) on continued wireless and fixed-line growth, compared with a profit of Dh78.55 million a year earlier.

Analysts had expected an average profit of Dh136.5 million, and the result beat the highest forecast for Dh151 million.

The company, which is the second largest provider of telecoms services in the UAE after etisalat, had a market share of 37 per cent at the end of August.

"By the end of the year, our market share will increase by a fraction but it is already significant," said du chief executive Osman Sultan in a conference call with journalists.

"I want to turn to build efficiency ... bringing value to shareholders. We are a growth company, focussing on growth of net profit, (and) of our EBITDA."

Du, partly owned by the ruler of Dubai's investment company Dubai Holding and Abu Dhabi investment vehicle Mubadala Development Co, also reported a 31 per cent rise in revenue to Dh1.744 billion for the period.

"The company will end up with 30 per cent growth in revenues by the end of the year. That's how we see it," Sultan said.

Mobile subscriptions jumped 39 per cent in the third quarter, over the same period last year and fixed line subscribers rose 44 per cent to 515,400 lines.

Sultan said this latter segment will continue to grow for the company, as the company seeks to expand operations nationally.

In June, du said it raised 1 billion dirhams to fund a growth plan and compete with market leader etisalat.

The CEO said there are no further plans to raise financing at the moment but the company will evaluate options at the beginning of next year.

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