The telecoms operator du said its profit more than doubled in the first quarter, having grown its share of the UAE mobile market to above 40 per cent.
The firm added 272,000 active mobile subscribers in the first three months of the year, bringing the total to 4,604,800 and helping it achieve revenues of Dh2 billion for the first quarter.
Its net profit, excluding a future royalty payment to the government, increased 112 per cent to Dh412 million, compared with Dh194 million in the first quarter of 2010.
Last year du paid a 15 per cent royalty fee, much lower than expected given that the incumbent operator Etisalat pays 50 per cent of its profits to the government.
Osman Sultan, du's Chief Executive Officer, said the company would continue to provision for a royalty of 50 per cent, "to be very conservative".
The news comes amid gloomy first-quarter results of many of du's competitors in the region. "We have the highest growth rate in the region of any telco," Mr Sultan said.
Earlier this month, Etisalat reported an 8.5 per cent decline in first-quarter profits to Dh1.82 billion (US$495.5 million). The decline was attributed to high capital expenditure outlay and greater competition from du.
bflanagan@thenational.ae
