Dubai-based telecoms operator Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (Du) has announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2013, reporting an 8.0% year-on-year increase in revenue to AED2.643 billion (USD719.5 million). Growth was mainly driven by a 9.7% rise in mobile sales to AED2.05 billion, with mobile data revenue climbing 34.5% year-on-year to AED616 million in the three months ended 30 September 2013. Fixed line turnover grew 8.7% from AED404 million in Q3 2012 to AED439 million twelve months later. Du said that EBITDA totalled AED1.06 billion in the third quarter of 2013, an increase of 11.2% from AED957 million in the year-ago quarter, while net profit after federal royalty jumped 45.1% year-on-year to AED474 million in 3Q13.
Du added 241,805 new active mobile customers in the third quarter of 2013, increasing its total wireless subscriber base to over 6.895 million, an increase of 15.7% compared to a year earlier. Of that total, post-paid mobile customers accounted for 9.1%, up from 8.0% in Q3 2012. Fixed line customers, meanwhile, increased by 5.9% year-on-year to reach 587,835 at 30 September 2013, including 151,000 fixed broadband users (an increase of 11.3% year-on-year) and 128,000 TV subscribers (up 6.6%). Commenting on the company’s performance, CEO Osman Sultan said: ‘The results for the third quarter of 2013 are positive, with a healthy increase in net profit of 45% after royalty. Growth during the quarter was driven by progress made in the data segment and a continuing strategy of attracting high-value customers. We remain concentrated on fostering innovation and bringing a competitive set of products to the market, with particular focus on data centric services.’