du Announces 9.2 Percent Growth for 9 Million 2018 Net Profit After Royalty to Dh1.41 Billion

Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, du, today published its financial results for the nine months ended 30 September 2018, showing a 4.8% growth in revenue to AED 10.01 billion compared to the same period last year. Net profit after royalty was up 9.2% to AED 1.41 billion for the nine-month period, compared to AED 1.29 billion in the same period last year.  

Third Quarter Analysis

Commenting on the results, Osman Sultan, EITC’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am pleased to report a strong revenue growth and increased profitability for the nine-month period ended 30 September 2018. We grew our revenue by 4.8% to AED 10.01 billion for the nine-month period and 6.4% to AED 3.33 billion for three-month period ended 30 September 2018.

 “Fixed line revenues are very healthy and continue to show strong growth, up 7.8% to AED 1.72 billion in the first nine months of 2018, and up 7.8% to AED 579 million for the three-month period ended 30 September 2018. Despite more pressure in the pre-paid market, Mobile revenue remained stable at AED 5.40 billion, driven by growth in our post-paid customer segment during the first nine months of the year.

“We reported a solid normalized EBITDA growth of 4.0% to AED 4.06 billion for the first nine months of 2018, which excludes the impact of one off regulatory cost benefits. Reported EBITDA shows 8.3% growth to AED 4.23 billion for the nine-month period ended 30 September 2018. For the three-month period, EBITDA increased by 2.8% reaching to AED 1.37 billion, driven by the solid revenue performance and the continued success of our efficiency programme launched two years ago.

“Net profit after royalty increased by 9.2% to AED 1.41 billion for the nine-month period. Looking at Q3 2018, net profit after royalty was solid at AED 441 million.

“Operationally, we made excellent progress during the quarter in advancing our digital transformation agenda and cementing our growth to a fully integrated ICT player. We partnered up with ADGM to provide digital and ICT solutions, we opened the first fully-digital store in DIFC to support our enterprise customers and won the Smart Cities Award at the Telecoms World Middle East 2018 for our role in developing Dubai Pulse – a platform owned by Smart Dubai office.

“As we look towards a smart future, we are working diligently to bring next generation technologies such as 5G, IoT, AI, and blockchain into our network. We are operating in an environment characterised by rapid change and disruptive innovations and we are proud to be at the forefront of the digital revolution. We have a clear vision and well-defined framework to become an ICT service provider by 2021 and support the UAE Vision 2021 strategy.

“I am extremely pleased to announce that on October 2^nd, du was awarded the MOHRE Emiratisation Award, in recognition of our outstanding efforts and success in promoting and nurturing Emirati talent. Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, we won the award in the Advanced Technology Companies category for implementing notable policies to promote Emiratisation and support the government's vision to establish an advanced economy based on knowledge and innovation."

As a result of its outstanding Emiratisation policies, EITC has doubled the number of UAE nationals employed since 2006. Emirati employees form the highest percentage among all 65 nationalities within EITC.