Du posts first full-year profit, beating expectations

Du, the UAE’s second service operator has posted its first full year net profit to December 2008, less than two years after it launched in February 2007. Net profit for the year before royalty came to AED8 million (US$2.18 million), up 100.9 per cent from a loss of AED885 million a year earlier.

Du now enjoys market share in the UAE of 25.5 per cent in mobile and 17 per cent in fixed-line

Revenues for 2008 amounted to AED3.951 billion, a year-on-year increase of 157 per cent from AED1.537 billion.

Active mobile subscribers increased by 104 per cent for the year to almost 2.5 million customers, while fixed-line subscribers grew 72 per cent from 163,000 to 280,000. This equates to a market share of 25.5 per cent for mobile and 17 per cent market share for fixed-line. Du forecast enjoying a 30 per cent market share by its third year of operation.

In quarterly results, revenues for Q408 reached AED1.227 billion, nearly double for the same period in 2007 of AED640 million. Net profit of AED78 million in the quarter was up 151.6 per cent from the third quarter, and up from a net loss of AED147 million a year earlier.

“We start 2009 stronger than ever before, but mindful of potential challenges ahead,” commented Du’s chairman Ahmed Bin Byat. “We are not complacent – either in terms of our market share or the global economic environment. We will continue our focus on innovation and value for money to develop and launch services that our customers want to use. As a result, I feel confident that Du is well positioned to prosper throughout 2009 and beyond.”