Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (Du) today announced full year results to 31 December 2009, recording another successful year of growth with net profit before royalty at record highs reaching Dhs528m.
Highlights for the full year:
• 1,011,200 active mobile customers acquired, an increase of 41% year on year to 3,477,000
• Post paid active mobile subscribers more than doubled during the year to 137,500 from 66,300 in 2008
• 45% growth in Du’s fixed line subscriber base from 280,300 to 405,900 lines at year end 2009
• Total full year revenues grew by 35% to reach Dhs5,339m compared to Dhs3,951m in 2008
• EBITDA reached Dhs1,064m, up from Dhs369m for FY 2008, an impressive 189% year on year growth
• Net profit before royalty reached a record Dhs528m up from Dhs8m in FY 2008
Highlights for the fourth quarter:
• 337,900 active mobile additions during the quarter, the highest level in 2009
• Healthy 27,500 increase in post-paid additions in Q4, similar to the previous quarter
• Total revenues reached Dhs1,530m up 25% vs. Q4 08
• EBITDA of Dhs366m, a strong increase of 55% vs. Q4 08 (Dhs236m)
• Net profit before royalty of Dhs209m for the quarter, 155% growth vs. Q4 08 (Dhs82m)
Commenting on the results, Ahmed Bin Byat, Chairman of Du, said:
“2009 was another year of success for Du marked by record revenues and profits. This is, in the prevailing challenging global economic climate of 2009, a remarkable performance of growth and a credit to Du’s management and employees who tirelessly continued to provide innovation, value for money and excellent service to our customers. Bin Byat added, “Not only are we committed to our subscribers, we are devoted to the development of the telecommunications sector and the nation’s economy as a whole. One of the pillars of this commitment is our Emiratisation program where we will continue to drive and promote the employment of UAE Nationals, a program that is rooted in quality and performance.”
“2010 will see Du enter a new phase of maturity. Our strong financial performance, driven by rapid subscriber growth over the past three years, provides us with a solid foundation for the next phase of our development. We remain focussed on delivering quality and a fulfilling customer experience and will continue to invest in our business to capitalise on the wealth of opportunity we see before us,” he added.
Osman Sultan, Du’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “Three years exactly after launching our services, we have reasons to be proud of our achievements so far. Our position in the mobile market is a strong one and we have realized our ambition, in a short time, of becoming a serious player in the UAE. Our value proposition in fixed telephony, broadband Internet and IPTV is the most developed, integrated and technically advanced in the Arab world. We see good growth prospects ahead by widening our appeal to more and more customers through the expansion of our offering nationwide via an infrastructure sharing agreement.”
Sultan added, In addition we have been building the foundations for the company to enter efficiently, through partnerships and joint ventures, into the fast growing universe of digital content and the Internet, allowing progressive ramp up of new revenue streams in the years to come.”
“In 2010 we will reinforce the foundations that will ensure the business is positioned to continue achieving long term growth and sustainable profitability. We also look to providing increased value and satisfaction to our customers with an ongoing drive towards quality, choice and performance. We will continue to re-engineer the way we do business to help reduce costs and improve efficiencies to the overall benefit of our business,” he said.
Sultan concluded, “I see 2010 being a year in which we improve business efficiency, raise Emiratisation and continue to drive our objective to achieve long term growth and sustainable profitability which will benefit to our customers, employees, shareholders and of course the community at large.”
2009 results analysis:
Combined revenues improved by 35% year-on-year to Dhs5,339m, and for Q4 09 reached Dhs1,530m the highest ever recorded in a quarter. All revenue streams displayed quarter-on-quarter growth, with mobile being the primary revenue driver increasing year-on-year by 42%.
Throughout 2009 subscriber growth remained strong, driven by mobile subscriber acquisitions and supported by the launch of new offers and enrichment of existing products. Mobile finished the year with 3,477,000 active subscribers, including 337,900 active mobile subscribers added in Q4 09.
The subscriber growth resulted in strong mobile revenues which reached Dhs3,727m for the year, up 42% year-on-year, whilst in Q4 09, the highest mobile revenues for a quarter were registered, reaching Dhs1,110m. Following rapid subscriber growth over the past three years, in 2009 we focussed on enhancing quality for existing customers and attracting new high-end users. This strategy is working, more than doubling our post-paid subscriber base during the year to 137,500 from 66,300 in 2008.
Fixed line, including fixed telephony, TV and Broadband, accounted for Dhs970m in revenues from 405,900 lines for the full year, increasing 17% year-on-year and 6% quarter-on-quarter, as a result of a continual growth in the subscriber base quarter-on-quarter.
The year was exciting for launches, including: Apple’s iPhone; the Premier Plan and Business Super Plan for corporate customers; the Elite Plan, the first personalized, post-paid mobile package for high-end individuals; the enhanced WoW pre-paid card with a third option, ‘more international’, offering extra credit towards international calls; and IPTV and Video-on-Demand providing a high quality viewing experience for our customers. Du also played an important part in two UAE milestones, providing wireless connectivity on the new Dubai Metro and at Abu Dhabi’s first Formula One (F1) racing event.
2009 EBITDA growth:
EBITDA performance was exceptional for 2009, increasing 189% year on year to Dhs1,064m compared with 2008, at Dhs369m. On a quarter on quarter basis, EBITDA increased by 55% to Dhs366m compared to Q4 08 at Dhs236m.
Total overheads increased to Dhs2,443m during the year, compared with Dhs2,143m in 2008, an increase of 14%. However, on a comparison of percentage of costs to revenue, overheads fell from 54% to 46% for the year, as a result of a considered and efficient management strategy.
Throughout 2009 we continued to develop and grow. Highlights for the year were many, crowned at year end by our best ever net profit before royalty of Dhs528m, up from Dhs8m in 2008. Q4 09 net profit before royalty was Dhs209m, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 155% versus Dhs82m in Q4 08.
Capital expenditure surpassed Dhs2bn in 2009 finishing the year at Dhs2,427m (Dhs2,338m FY 08), with Dhs960m accounted for during Q4 09. During 2009 we added 717 2G sites extending coverage to 99% of UAE’s population, along with an extra 786 3G sites resulting in population coverage of more than 80%. The capital expenditure program has resulted in the provision of improved capabilities and services to our customers through network upgrades, capacity expansion and improved network coverage and quality.
published @ AMEinfo
