The UAE’s second telecom operator Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co., also known as du, on Tuesday said its 2023 net profits jumped 36.8 per cent to Dh1.67 billion as both mobile and fixed customer base grew exponentially.
Its full-year revenues grew by 6.9 per cent to Dh13.64 billion on the back of sustained demand for mobile services and strong growth in post-paid and fixed services.
The Board recommended raising the full-year dividend to 34 fils per share, an increase of 41.7 per cent. It has already paid 13 fils per share as an interim dividend in August 2023.
“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,” said Malek Sultan Al Malek, chairman of du.
Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO of du, said, the company achieved expansion of its 5G to 98.5 per cent population coverage, increased digitalisation of its customer touch-points with over 75 per cent of its customer interactions moving online.
In a statement, it said full-year EBITDA surged 12.8 per cent to Dh5.80 billion. Full-year capex was stable at Dh2.2 billion and operating free cash flow rose 23.2 per cent to Dh3.6 billion.
The company’s annual mobile customer base grew 8.3 per cent year-on-year to 8.6 million subscribers. Strong net additions in the last quarter of 456,000 were mainly driven by a significant increase in prepaid customers. The post-paid customer base also witnessed a robust 10.5 per cent growth to 1.6 million.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, du net profit surged 38.5 per cent to Dh396 million while revenues grew 7.3 per cent year-over-year to Dh3.558 million. Mobile service revenues in the last quarter grew 5.4 per cent to Dh1.576 billion on higher post-paid revenues.
Fixed services revenues in Q4 reached a new high of Dh953 million, a 4 per cent year-over-year growth.
The telecom firm’s EBITDA in Q4 grew 9.6 per cent to Dh1.43 billion on higher service revenues.