Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, or du, on Tuesday reported Dh3.26 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2017, up 6.2 per cent from Dh3.07 billion in Q2 2016. Net profit before royalty was Dh974 million for the period.

Du also announced plans to distribute Dh589.3 million of interim dividends to its shareholders for the first half of 2017 at 13 fils per share, subject to approval at the General Meeting in September 2017.

Commenting on the results, Osman Sultan, EITC's Chief Executive Officer, said: "EITC has made steady progress in the second quarter of 2017, with a 6.2 per cent increase in revenue and a slight improvement in net profit.

"Driven by growth in handset sales, wholesale and fixed revenues, total revenue reached Dh3.26 billion in Q2 2017, representing a 6.2 per cent increase over the same period last year. Revenue has also shown growth over the first six months of the year with a 4.3 per cent increase to Dh6.42 billion.

"Our mobile customer base increased 1.5 per cent during Q2 2017 to 8.2 million customers, up from 8.1 million in Q2 2016. This was largely due to our strategy of focusing increasingly on attracting and retaining higher quality customers, with solid growth in postpaid customer additions.

"Despite a steady performance during the quarter and the first half of the year, EITC continues to be impacted by challenging market conditions, with pressure on mobile rates and data monetization. Consequently, EBITDA and Net Profit stand at the same level as Q2 2016.

"Looking towards a smart future, we have made further investments into Smart Dubai, the Virgin Mobile brand and adjacent markets. We will continue to invest in the future generation capacity of the business; EITC is a digital enabler and will be able to create new revenue opportunity as digital transformation for both consumers and enterprises opens up new markets.

"A highlight for the second quarter of the year has been our progress with the introduction of the Virgin Mobile brand. During the period, we began a programme of pre-launch customer registration and conducted trial tests. We enrolled a few select number of UAE residents to test the product and its customer service, and are happy with the feedback received. We look forward to the full commercial launch of the Virgin Mobile brand in the UAE soon, and with it, bringing a fully digital and premium customer experience.

"Our results are backed by our commitment to the future development of a digitally-enabled ecosystem. During the period, we achieved a milestone development in connectivity technology, with the successful testing of a 5G solution that will significantly upgrade connectivity speed for our users. With this initiative and more to come, we remain committed to a smart future, and the government's vision for a smart nation."

Source: Khaleej Times