UAE’s du reports 12.7% rise in net profit for Q3 2022

UAE telecom operator du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), published its financial results for the quarter ended September 30.

The revenues increased by 10.5 per cent to Dhs3.17bn on sustained demand for broadband and mobile services.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 18.5 per cent year-over-year to Dhs1,303m. The increase in service revenues lifted the gross margin to 65.2 per cent compared to 62.2 per cent in Q3 2021. As a result, the EBITDA margin expanded by 277 basis pointsp to 41.0 per cent.

On a comparable basis, net profit jumped 49.8 per cent to Dhs319m. On a reported basis, net profit increased 12.7 per cent. The impact of higher EBITDA was partially offset by greater depreciation charges and Federal royalty charges.

Mobile service revenues continued their recovery increasing by 10.7 per cent to Dhs1,443m while equipment sales generated revenues of Dhs176m.

Fixed services revenues soared 22.2 per cent to Dhs892m, buoyed by the continued strong performance of the consumer segment. In aggregate, service revenues increased by 14.8 per cent to Dhs2,335m.

Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO of EITC said, “This quarter’s results have been excellent on all fronts. Our business environment has clearly transitioned to post-pandemic normality. We are benefiting from the UAE’s economic dynamism and healthy macro trends. Our results validate the efforts we deploy to provide new products and services; improve customer experience; and execute our transformation journey. All these initiatives have laid the foundations of our commercial momentum.”

He added, “Our service revenues are recovering and growing at an encouraging pace. We generated service revenues above Dhs2bn for a fifth consecutive quarter. Our profitability continued to improve on a sequential and year-on-year basis. We have invested and will continue to invest in our infrastructure to give our customers a simple and the best available experience in the UAE.”

Capital expenditures (Capex) amounted to Dhs724m with a capital intensity of 22.8 per cent and reflects a seasonality effect. The Capex profile continues to normalise following two consecutive years of high capital intensity.

The company repaid Dhs200m drawn from the revolving credit facilities. du reported a net cash position of Dhs910m and Dhs3.8bn of undrawn facilities.

The mobile customer base grew by 14.7 per cent to 7.4 million subscribers, as the postpaid customer segment continued its continuous growth for the fifth consecutive quarter, with net-additions of 32,000 subscribers, bringing the total number of subscribers in this segment to 1.4 million.

The consumer broadband customer base increased 53.8 per cent to 510,000. The company’s broadband strategy continues to deliver, with 37,000 new customers during the quarter.