Du posts maiden profit

Reuters reports that Dubai-based Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (Du) has posted its first ever net profit a year ahead of predictions in the third quarter, due to strong subscriber growth. Du’s net income in the three months ended 30 September was AED31.47 million (USD8.57 million) compared with a loss of AED241.94 million a year ago, whilst revenue more than doubled to AED1.06 billion, the firm said in a statement. Du, which started operations in February 2007, added 453,000 mobile subscriptions in 3Q 2008, taking its total to 2.67 million, while fixed line customers increased by 30,000 to 248,000 in the same period, it said.