Du on pace to surpass record 2024 income on 25% Q2 profit jump

Thriving UAE economy helps telecom firm boost its subscriber numbers in the second quarter

Du's mobile customer base grew nearly 11 per cent to 9.1 million in the second quarter of 2025. Photo: du

Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, the Dubai operator known as du, reported a more than 25 per cent annual jump in its second-quarter profit, keeping it on track to beat its record 2024 income.

Net profit for the three months to the end of June climbed to Dh727 million ($198 million), the company said on Thursday in a regulatory filing to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares trade.

Net income for the first six months of the year rose to nearly Dh1.45 billion, a 22.4 per cent year-on-year increase. The quarterly boost pushed the company's first-half income this year to more than half of the Dh2.49 billion profit it reported for 2024, the company said.

Revenue for the second quarter rose 8.6 per cent to Dh3.9 billion, while earnings before interest, taxes, amortisation and depreciation, a reliable measure of profitability, leapt 16.4 per cent to Dh1.83 billion.

For the first half of 2025, du reported revenue rise of 8 per cent to Dh7.75 billion, while its Ebitda on an annual basis jumped 15.7 per cent to Dh3.65 billion.

Du's board of directors has also approved a cash dividend of Dh0.24 per share for the first half of the year, up 20 per cent annually, the company said.

Du on Thursday also updated its full-year earnings guidance, with revenue growth pegged at between 6 per cent and 8 per cent, and an Ebitda margin of between 45 per cent and 47 per cent.

“Our strong performance in the first half of 2025 reflects the effective delivery of our focused strategy, underpinned by a favourable economic environment and sustained commitment to business excellence," said Malek Al Malek, chairman of du.

Du has attributed its "positive momentum" to the continued growth momentum in the UAE economy, which also helped it boost its mobile subscriber numbers by nearly 11 per cent on an annual basis to 9.1 million, during April-June period.

Fixed-line subscribers jumped by 12 per cent to approximately 706,000, the company added.

Fahad Al Hassawi, chief executive of du. Pawan Singh / The National

"We continue to ensure disciplined capital allocation and sustained long-term value creation for our shareholders," Mr Al Malek added.

Du is seeking aggressive expansion and has boosted its operations and services over the past year as market dynamics change with emerging technologies, including AI, the cloud and big data.

Last October, du unveiled du Tech and du Infra – in a major shake-up to its business-to-business operations aimed at addressing growing demand for digital transformation services in the UAE.

The introduction of the sub-brands will allow the company to dedicate more resources to their respective business segments and is the next step in the company's transformation and expansion, chief executive Fahad Al Hassawi told The National at the time.

Du is also open to expanding its non-core portfolio outside the UAE, particularly in adjacent technologies that would include data centres, financial technology and other information and communications technology segments, he added.

The company's second-quarter financial results "showcased impressive performance, fuelled by the meticulous execution of our strategy and consistent growth across every aspect of our operations", Mr Al Hassawi said in Thursday's earnings report.

Du shares closed up 0.4 per cent at Dh10 on Thursday.