Emirates Integrated Telecommunications, the Dubai telecoms operator known as du, posted 6.9 per cent growth in full-year revenue to Dh13.64 billion on higher demand for mobile services and growth in postpaid and fixed services.
With core earnings EBITDA surging 12.8 per cent to Dh5.80 billion, full-year net profit reached a remarkable Dh1.67 billion, a 36.8 per cent increase year on year mainly reflecting the strong EBITDA growth, the company said in a statement.
Based on these results, the Board proposed increasing the full-year dividend to 34 fils per share, out of which 13 fils per share were already paid in August 2023 as an interim dividend, the firm added.
Customer base growth
"Our mobile customer base grew 8.3 per cent year-over-year to 8.6 million subscribers. Strong net additions in the last quarter (456,000) were mainly driven by a significant increase in prepaid customers benefitting from seasonality and promotional campaigns."
Malek Sultan Al Malek, Chairman, commented: "We saw a significant evolution of our business model in 2023, sharpening our strategic focus. Our business remains highly cash-generative while sustaining investments in our future growth and our balance sheet remains unleveraged and solid with Dh5.7 billion in available liquidity."
Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO said: "In 2024 we aim to execute our strategy and continue building upon our strong financial performance, reinforcing our leadership in our core business through a differentiated digital-first approach, leveraging our platform for disruptive customer-centric innovation, and harnessing structural efficiencies across our operations while expanding our new business venture and enhancing our customer experience.”
- Fixed service revenues for the full year were up 8.6 per cent to reach Dh3.77 billion. The growth was mainly driven by Home Wireless and enterprise connectivity.
- Core earnings (EBITDA) margin rose to 42.5 per cent in 2023 from 40.3 per cent a year earlier.
