du profit rises 12.6% during the first-half as service revenue grows

Dubai: Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, known as du, reported a 12.6% increase in first-half net profit to Dh1.63 billion as service revenue growth and cost controls helped offset softer customer activity during the second quarter.

Revenue for the six months ended June rose 5.8% from a year earlier to Dh8.20 billion, while service revenue increased 7.7% to Dh6.03 billion, the company said on Wednesday. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 10.5% to Dh4.03 billion. The EBITDA margin widened by 2.1 percentage points to 49.2%.

Du’s board approved an interim cash dividend of 26 fils per share, up 8.3% from a year earlier. The results came despite slower growth during the second quarter, when regional tensions affected subscriber activations, tourism and consumer spending.

Quarterly revenue rose 4.6% to Dh4.08 billion, while net profit increased 9.8% to Dh798 million. Service revenue climbed 6.7% to Dh3.01 billion. EBITDA advanced 9.2% to Dh1.99 billion, while the quarterly margin increased by two percentage points to 48.8%.

Subscriber growth slows

Du ended the second quarter with 9.3 million mobile subscribers, up 1.6% from a year earlier. The company said growth had moderated from previous periods because of lower activation levels since the start of the regional conflict.

Its postpaid customer base expanded 9% to 2.1 million, supported by demand for premium consumer packages and enterprise services.

Prepaid subscribers declined 0.4% to 7.2 million. Du attributed the fall to a significant reduction in tourism activity during the quarter, partly offset by customer growth from its prepaid products.

The fixed customer base grew 5.5% to 744,000 subscribers. The operator said its Home Wireless service continued to attract customers seeking flexible connectivity, while demand for fibre broadband remained stable.

Mobile revenue increased 3.7% during the quarter to Dh1.8 billion. Fixed revenue rose 11.6% to Dh1.2 billion, driven by enterprise connectivity and Home Wireless.

Other revenue declined 0.8% to Dh1.1 billion because of weaker handset sales and the absence of non-recurring information and communications technology revenue recorded a year earlier.

Data centre investments

Capital expenditure rose 19.8% in the second quarter to Dh653 million, from Dh545 million a year earlier. Capital intensity increased to 16% of revenue from 14%.

Du attributed the rise to continued investment in its telecommunications network and faster deployment of capital into data centres.

The company said its data centre projects were accelerating as it moved closer to launching services under an agreement with an unnamed global hyperscaler. It did not disclose the expected launch date or investment value.

First-half capital expenditure increased 12.7% to Dh1.04 billion. Despite the higher spending, operating free cash flow rose 9.7% to Dh2.99 billion.

Quarterly operating free cash flow, calculated as EBITDA minus capital expenditure, increased 4.6% to Dh1.34 billion.

'Cautious spending environment'

Fahad Al Hassawi, Chief Executive Officer of du, said the company had accelerated investments in cloud, artificial intelligence and data centre services while managing costs to protect margins.

“These efforts enabled us to sustain both top-line and bottom-line growth despite a softer monetisation trend and a cautious spending environment, demonstrating the resilience of our business model,” Al Hassawi said.

Du also launched du Ventures during the quarter in partnership with investment firm Shorooq. The venture capital fund will target early-stage and growth companies developing emerging technologies.

Malek Al Malek, Chairman of du, said the company had continued to diversify its investment programmes and strengthen its digital infrastructure capabilities during the first half.

“The Board remains confident in management’s ability to navigate evolving market conditions while maintaining a strong customer focus, operational excellence, and disciplined execution,” he said.