Du's Q3 profit boosted by Dh800m Khazna Data Centres deal

Company's net profit increased 116% to Dh824m and revenues dipped 12.4% to Dh2.69bn

Founded in 2005 as the UAE’s second licensed telecommunications provider, du is 50.12 per cent owned by Emirates Investment Authority. Charles Crowell for The National

Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, also known as du, reported a 116.2 per cent increase in third-quarter net profit, buoyed by the sale of its stake in Khazna Data Centres.

The UAE's second-biggest telecoms operator last month signed a Dh800 million agreement with the Technology Holding Company to sell its minority stake in Khazna.

The company's net profit for the three months ending September 30, surged to Dh824m, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. .

However, total revenue for the third quarter dropped 12.4 per cent annually to Dh2.69 billion from the same period a year earlier.

“With the start of the recovery in the UAE market, we are pleased to see green shoots of recovery across our business, too, for the first time since the onset of the pandemic,” Fahad Al Hassawi, acting chief executive of du, said.

“Compared to the second quarter, characterised by lockdowns and severe disruptions in business activity, our quarter three results show good improvement.”

Founded in 2005 as the UAE’s second licensed telecommunications provider, du is 50.12 per cent owned by Emirates Investment Authority, 10.06 per cent by Mubadala Investment Company and 19.7 per cent by Emirates International Telecommunications, with the remainder of shares in public hands. Alongside du, the company also owns the Virgin Mobile brand in the UAE.

The company’s third quarter capital expenditure amounted to Dh511m, about 19 per cent of the revenues.

“For our customers, we have significantly increased our capex spend for network deployment and maintenance, including the rollout of 5G across the country. We aim to bring the best connectivity speeds and most innovative services to everyone in the UAE,” said Mr Hassawi.