Wednesday, 24 February 2010 at 16:59, Reuters, Dubai
Dubai-based telecom du said on Wednesday net profit in the fourth quarter rose 155 per cent on a surge in mobile users in the quarter and has set aside $600m to boost its network in 2010.
Du, owned partly by the ruler of Dubai's investment company Dubai Holding and Abu Dhabi investment vehicle Mubadala Development Co, said net profit before provisions for a 50 per cent royalty fee to the government rose to Dh209m ($56.90m) from Dh82 m in the year earlier period.
The net profit result smashed forecasts from analysts polled by Reuters in January, which was an average of Dh110.5m for the quarter.
The company saw the biggest growth in subscribers during the fourth quarter, it said, adding more than a third of its new customers for the year.
"Over the year, we have added a further 1.01 million customers with our total active subscriber base at 3.47 million," Chief Executive Osman Sultan said in a company statement.
The operator, which broke Emirates Telecommunications Corp's monopoly in 2007, invested about Dh2.4bn in building its mobile, broadband and fixed network last year and has an investment programme exceeding Dh2.2bn ($599 million) for 2010, Sultam said.
Du shares were suspended on Wednesday prior to the results. They ended Wednesday at Dh2.9.
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