UAE telco du net profit down 65.6% in Q3 2021

Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) said that its revenues in Q3 2021 grew 6.9 per cent year-on-year to Dhs2.874bn on sustained demand for broadband services and 5G handsets.

Fixed revenues grew 14.7 per cent to Dhs731m, whereas “other revenues” increased 16.6 per cent to Dhs839m due to a doubling of handset sales and higher wholesale revenues.

Its EBITDA decreased 4.9 per cent amounted to Dhs1.1bn while its net profit declined by 65.6 per cent to Dhs283m in spite of higher depreciation and amortisation charges.

Its mobile customer base reached 6.5 million. The postpaid segment witnessed net-adds of 13,000. The postpaid customer base grew to 1.3 million while its prepaid customer base declined to 5.2 million subscribers. A resurgent postpaid segment led to the recovery of mobile revenue to Dhs1.304bn.

The company also ended the quarter with 331,000 broadband customers.

EITC said that its 5G network now covers 90 per cent of the population. EITC also inaugurated two data centres, KIZAD in Abu Dhabi and Dubai Silicon Oasis. These centres have an aggregate capacity of 2.7 MW.

Depreciation and amortisation increased due to an ambitious investment programme. The disposal of Khazna Data Center in 2020 reduced the contribution from associates.

EITC said that its capex dropped 27.3 per cent to Dhs372m due to phasing of expenditure. As a result, operating free cash flow increased to Dhs728m.

“Our fixed services business delivered another solid quarter. Broadband net-adds accelerated to 52,000 thanks to an attractive service offering. In addition, we see corporate demand for fixed services returning. The refreshed prepaid mobile tariffs are pushing gross-adds on the prepaid segment towards pre-pandemic levels. Our enhanced postpaid tariff plan is stimulating usage and supports a pathway to ARPU growth. This quarter is an inflection point for mobile service revenues: we renewed with nominal growth (+0.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter) after three consecutive quarters of decline,” said Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO of EITC.

“Following two years of capital deployment, I am pleased to announce that our 5G network is now accessible to 90 per cent of the population,” he added.