Du celebrates first profits

The upstart firm that broke Etisalat's monopoly in the UAE, expects a net profit gain of Dh40.94 million in the third quarter.

The telecommunications company is already in the green, ahead of expectations.

DUBAI // Du, the upstart firm that broke Etisalat's telecommunication monopoly, has been forecast to post a year on year net profit of Dh40.94 million for the third quarter - its first since launching last year, according to an industry forecast by Al Mal Capital Research. "This is the much-needed positive start they've been waiting for," said Alok Nawani, an analyst for Emaar Financial. "Du is the only way for foreign investors to get exposure to UAE telecoms since Etisalat does not allow foreign investors, so this is positive." The predicted turnaround comes at least two quarters earlier than expected for du, which said last year that it expected to become profitable only by the first quarter of 2009. According to the report, du's revenue is expected to grow to Dh937.69 million (US$255m), up 127.5 per cent year on year. Officials with du said they will not comment prior to the official release of their third quarter results sometime at the end of this month. [e-mail]