Dubai Telco Du Q2 Net Profit Gains 15.6%

Du, the United Arab Emirates’ second biggest telecommunications operator, reported a 15.6 per cent rise in second-quarter profit on Thursday, beating analysts’ estimates.

The firm, which ended rival Etisalat’s domestic monopoly in 2007, made a net profit of Dhs547.7 million ($149.1 million) in the three months to June 30, up from Dhs473.9 million in the year-earlier period.

Analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast du would make a quarterly profit of Dhs498.8 million.

Second-quarter revenue was Dhs3.02 billion, rising 13.7 per cent on the same period a year ago, with fixed line revenue and mobile revenue up 30 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

Data revenue also grew 18.6 per cent year-on-year to Dhs680 million.

Du’s active subscribers grew 7.6 per cent year-on-year to 7.2 million, although the figure dipped 5.2 per cent from the first quarter of 2014 as a local government initiative requiring all mobile users to register their numbers saw 468,000 phone numbers withdrawn from service.

The company warned further reductions could be possible in coming quarters.

The firm’s board recommended paying a cash dividend of Dhs0.12 per share for the first half of 2014. This is lower than the Dhs0.22 per share paid in the year-earlier period, according to Thomson Reuters data.