Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (Du), the UAE’s second national telecoms operator, has announced its financial results for the three months ended 30 September 2011, reporting revenue of AED2.234 billion (USD608 million), an increase of 28% year-on-year and up 2.9% on the previous quarter. The company said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped 45% year-on-year from AED523 million in Q3 2010 to AED759 million, while net profit before royalty increased 50% to AED489 million in the third quarter of 2011 from AED326 million in the year-ago period. Capital expenditure totalled AED270 million in the quarter, 55% of which was invested in the company’s fixed line operations.
Subscriber growth and rising data usage were the key drivers behind Du’s strong sustained mobile revenues, which reached AED1.713 billion in the three-month period, up 31% compared to Q3 2010. Mobile data revenues grew 46% year-on-year to AED167 million, accounting for 9.8% of total mobile revenues. Du said it added 162,000 net mobile subscribers during the quarter, taking its wireless customer base to 4.938 million at 30 September 2011, of which 343,500 were post-paid customers (around 7% of the total base). Mobile average revenue per user (ARPU) remained steady at AED118 for the third consecutive quarter, up from AED109 in Q310. Revenues generated by Du’s fixed business, including fixed telephony, TV and broadband, amounted to AED380 million, a 28% year-on-year increase. The company’s fixed line subscriber base grew 24% from 515,400 in the third quarter of 2010 to 639,700 a year later, with 16,100 lines added during Q3 2011.