Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (du) today announced its 2007 year-end financial results which showed a 254% revenue growth for the past 12 months reflecting the success of the launch in February of its mobile services.
Financial highlights:
As at the end of December, du's mobile customer base exceeded 1.5 million after only ten months from service launch - an acquisition of close to 30% of the population of the UAE. Its Landline, International and Wholesale and Broadcasting segments also witnessed swift expansion and steady growth.
du achieved sales revenues for the fourth quarter of AED 639.7m representing an increase of 55% compared to the revenue achieved in the third quarter (AED412.2m) and a 388% increase over that achieved in Quarter 4 of 2006 (AED 131.2m). This result brought the total revenue for the year to AED 1,527.4m representing a 254 % growth over the similar period last year.
Ahmed Bin Byat, the Chairman of du, said: “We have clearly positioned ourselves as an innovative trend setter in the UAE telecom sector. We believe the confidence placed in du by all our stakeholders was the key driver behind achieving this significant revenue growth; rest assured we are looking to continue this progress in the coming years by delivering world-class communications and market competitiveness”.
In addition to increasing its mobile customer base, du’s pioneering WOW recharge card, the first of its kind prepaid scheme in the world, and the special edition AED 1 mobile line ‘million’ pack launched to mark the one million subscriber milestone, clearly contributed to the company’s significant revenue growth in the fourth quarter.
To support these customers and its future forecasts, du continued its capital investment programme with the fourth quarter investment reaching AED 366.0m, bringing total Capital Expenditure in the year to AED 1,635.3m. This reflected investments made predominantly in optimizing the mobile network infrastructure and extending the coverage across the UAE.
Net cash outflow for the quarter was AED 221.6m bringing the total cash utilization in the year to AED 1,557.0m mirroring the significant capital investment programme underway.
Osman Sultan, CEO of du stated: “du surpassed all projected forecasts in 2007. I am confident that we have the expertise and capabilities to continue to consistently deliver on these expectations by enhancing the network quality, increasing customer satisfaction, delivering innovative products and services, and investing in the human factor. These are our constant objectives.”
“We differentiated ourselves within the UAE with an un-matched innovative product portfolio and competitive value in 2007 and 2008 will definitely mark similar significant milestones being reached for the company.”
© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
