du marks second quarter net profit of Dh207.2 million

Dubai: du, the UAE's second largest telecoms provider, made a second quarter net profit of Dh207.2 million after provisioning for a royalty fee to the government, up from Dh137.4 million a year earlier, the company said on Wednesday. 

Revenue increased by 28 per cent year-on-year to Dh2.1 billion from Dh1.7 billion, du said in a statement to Dubai's bourse. The company also said it added 171,100 new subscribers during the quarter, giving it a 44 per cent market share. 

"We continue to achieve strong revenue growth, as a result the breadth and quality of our products and services offerings," said Osman Sultan, du's CEO. 

"Further testament to the strength of our offering is the fact that more than a quarter of the growth in mobile revenue can be attributed to an increase in ARPU (average revenue per user), driven by increased usage by our customers," he added. 

Half year net profit was Dh413 million, up from Dh234.5 million in the year-ago period whilst revenues in the first six months of 2011 hit Dh4.2 billion against Dh3.3 billion the previous year. 

During the second quarter, du secured a three-year club financing deal worth $220 million to help repay an existing Dh3 billion syndicated loan. 

The telco said the loan enabled the company to roll out its network infrastructure at a faster pace whilst helping it to put in place increased capacity. 

etisalat, the UAE's largest telco by market value, last month posted a 14.9 per cent drop in second quarter net profit.