du Q1 profit doubles on customer growth

du, the United Arab Emirates’ second-biggest phone company, more than doubled first-quarter profit as the number of mobile and fixed-line subscribers grew and mobile-data use expanded. Net income surged to Dh205.8 million ($56 million), or 0.05 fils per share, from Dh97m, or 0.02 fils, a year earlier, the company, formally known as Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co, said today in a statement to the Dubai bourse website. Revenue rose to 2 billion dirhams against 1.58 billion dirhams last year.

du, which competes with Emirates Telecommunications Corp, also known as Etisalat, said the number of mobile phone subscribers rose by 272,000 to 4.6 million at the end of the quarter. Mobile-data revenue more than doubled to Dh141m from Dh59m last year. Fixed-line customers grew 27 per cent to 581,500. The net income came after the company set aside 50 per cent of profit for royalty payment to the federation. du added that it spent Dh447m during the quarter on infrastructure.