Business | Telecoms
du becomes profitable in 19 months
du has become profitable after 19 months of operations with current total subscriber numbers at 2.6 million.
- By Nadia Saleem, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:26 November 2, 2008
Dubai: du has become profitable after 19 months of operations with current total subscriber numbers at 2.6 million.
The company announced yesterday its profits at Dh31 million for the third quarter ended in September, as total revenues surpassed the Dh1 billion mark for the first time.
The earnings before interest, tax, depreciations and amortisation (EBITDA) were Dh101 million, up form a loss of Dh186 in third quarter 2007.
"Becoming EBITDA positive within a year is unprecedented specifically in such a highly penetrated telecommunications market," Osman Sultan, chief executive of du, said in a statement.
The company had a net loss of Dh242 million in the third quarter last year and moved up to a loss of Dh44 million in the second quarter this year.
Margins
Gross margins for the operator went up to 63 per cent from 53 per cent in the last quarter, driving it towards profitability.
Active subscriber numbers exceeded expectations for the telecom operator, reaching two million, up form 659,000 in the third quarter last year.
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