Du's 2019 net profits dip 1.3% to Dh1.73b as revenues drop

Dubai - Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co. (EITC), also knowns as du, on Tuesday said its 2019 net profit fell 1.3 per cent to Dh1.73 billion as mobile subscribers and revenues declined year-on-year.
The company said in its annual report on Tuesday that it adjusted net profit (like-for-like) grew 9.3 per cent in 2019. Its fixed revenues grew 6.1 per cent to Dh2.49 billion while mobile revenues fell 8 per cent to Dh6.5 billion. Total revenues dropped 6.2 per cent to Dh12.58 billion. The number of mobile subscriber base dropped 13.9 per cent to 7.6 million while fixed subscriber base jumped 7.1 per cent to 219,000.
The UAE's second telecom operator also announced a dividend distribution of 34 fils per share out of which 13 fils per share have been already paid in August 2019 as an interim dividend.
Capital expenditure in 2019 increased by 46.8 per cent to Dh1.5 billion, reflecting continuation of the investment in 5G network rollout, fibre network expansion and IT modernization and transformation initiatives.
Its fourth-quarter net profit jumped 26 per cent to Dh436 million but revenues dropped 6.1 per cent to Dh3.1 billion.
Mohamed Al Hussaini, Chairman of EITC, said strong results were achieved despite challenging environment that the telecom market went through in 2019.
"EITC was able to absorb fully the pressure on its revenues through increasing focus on promising growing revenue streams, better mix of its base and increased efficiency. It also re-affirmed its commitment to the investment in the country infrastructure accelerating the deployment of its 5G network to support the future development of new products and services," Al Hussaini said.
Johan Dennelind, CEO of EITC, said 2019 has been a year of paradigm shift in the telecommunication industry in UAE.
"I note that EITC has been able to navigate in a changing environment, starting to pull growth levers in promising business lines, to protect its margins and profitability and to inject important capital towards the deployment and modernization of its infrastructure."
-waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com