UAE-based telco Du has reported a 13.5% drop in its net profit for the third quarter of 2019 to AED381 million (USD103 million). Profits for the first nine months of the year were down 7.9% at AED1.29 billion, although on a like-for-like profits rose 3.5%. Revenues for the third quarter dropped 7.9% to AED3.07 billion, while there was a 6.2% year-on-year fall in 9M 2019 to AED9.40 billion.
While fixed line customers were up 1.5% to 771,000, mobile user numbers dropped by 10.6% to 7.74 million. The firm says it is continuing to focus on the retention of high-value post-paid subscribers, which led to a 2.5% increase in ARPU in the period.