Du's 2020 capex surges 24% even as full-year net profit slides

The telecoms operator increased its capital expenditure as it invested in network improvements and expanded its 5G coverage

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

Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, also known as du, reported a 24.1 per cent annual increase in capital expenditure to Dh1.87 billion even as its full-year net profit slid 16.7 per cent last year.

The UAE's second-biggest telecoms operator's net profit for the full fiscal year ending December 31 amounted to Dh1.4bn, the company said in a statement. Total revenue for the year decreased almost 11 per cent to Dh11.1bn.

“Our business model proved solid and resilient compared to many other industries,” Mohamed Al Hussaini, chairman of EITC, said.

“EITC has been able to navigate in a turbulent environment and ensure the efficient provision of telecommunication services, vital to the economy and the community … EITC maintained a high level of profitability of the business and continued the deployment of its transformation plans,” he added.

Du, though, continued to invest in network improvements and expand its 5G roll out despite the market conditions last year.

The telecom company's fourth quarter net income fell to Dh48m due to a one-off goodwill write-off of Dh137m in its broadcast business as Covid-19 changed content consumption patterns.

Net income would reach Dh185m if this write-off was excluded, the company added.

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.

The telecom reported a 1 per cent quarterly increase in its mobile subscribers to 6.7 million while the fixed-line subscriber base grew to 236,000 in the last quarter.

“We continued our focus on implementing our new business model and various transformation initiatives to improve our efficiency and our ability to adapt to an evolving and dynamic environment,” Fahad Al Hassawi, acting chief executive of the company, said.

“EITC has demonstrated tremendous resilience during this unprecedented year as we successfully navigated the Covid-19-19 pandemic, while keeping our employees safe, and our customers connected.”

Last month, the company increased the foreign ownership cap from 20 per cent to 49 per cent to attract more external investors.