Du Q2 Revenues Jump 44% - Reports Quarterly Profit

UAE based operator, Du has reported a 44% jump in Q2 revenues to AED1.3 billion (US$355 million), compared to AED908 million a year ago. Net profit (before royalty) for the quarter surpassed AED100 million for the first time, reaching AED115 million (US$31.4 million). More than double the AED47 million achieved in Q1 09 and compared to a loss of AED44m in Q2 08

The company added 155,900 new subscribers in the quarter, brining its subscriber base to 2.9 million.

Commenting on the results, Ahmed Bin Byat, Chairman of du, said, "du has seen another strong quarter with record revenues, EBITDA and net profit. It is encouraging to see that, despite the global economic conditions, that du's customer proposition continues to attract the majority of new subscribers. We have seen solid progress across the business and, having already reached our target of 30% market share one year ahead of schedule, we are now working towards capturing 35% of the market in 2010. However, we do expect to be operating in challenging times for the next one or two quarters."

For the first time, du is disclosing the breakdown of pre- and post-paid (Pay as you Go and Monthly Plan) mobile subscribers. In the second quarter, du added 16,700 post-paid mobile subscribers, a significant increase over previous periods and a result of a post-paid (Monthly Plan) marketing focus, as well as 139,200 pre-paid (Pay as you Go) mobile subscribers. Post-paid (Monthly Plan) customers still represent a small proportion of du's overall mobile customer base at 3%.

EBITDA increased to AED242 million (US$66 million) up 52% compared to Q1 09 of AED159 million and similar to levels achieved in Q4 08 of AED236.3 million. This represents 18% of revenues, up from 14% of revenues in the first quarter of the year, again highlighting du's effective cost control management.

du's ongoing capital expenditure programme is anticipated to exceed AED 2 billion (US$545 million) in 2009.

Posted to the site on 27th July 2009