Du, which ended Etisalat's domestic monopoly in 2007,
said its third-quarter EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation
and amortization) margin was 34 percent, up from 32 percent in the second
quarter and 30 percent a year ago.
"The name of the game is better efficiency in our
operations," Chief Executive Osman Sultan told reporters on Monday.
"We are moving toward better EBITDA margins, not only for the coming
quarter, but hopefully for the next year."
Du made a third-quarter net profit of 244 million dirhams
($66.5 million), compared with a forecast for 214 million.
"The main growth came from mobile revenues,"
said Sultan.
Du has provisioned to pay half of its 2011 profit in
royalties, or tax, to the federal government. This is the same percentage
levied on Etisalat, but in 2010 du paid only 15 percent in a surprise decision
by the government. Du is still waiting for confirmation of the 2011 royalty,
Sultan said.
Third-quarter revenue was 2.23 billion dirhams, up from
1.74 billion a year earlier.
Revenue growth was likely to be "between 26 and 28
percent" in 2011 as a whole, Sultan said, with du's share of total UAE
telecoms revenue "close to 28 percent".
Mobile revenue was up by nearly third to account for more
than 75 percent of quarterly revenue. Subscribers rose 162,000
quarter-on-quarter to 4.94 million at the end of September, giving du a 45
percent market share.
Contract customers, who typically spend more than their
prepaid counterparts, continued to grow in numbers, du said, and now account
for 7 percent of mobile subscribers, although the company's average revenue per
user (ARPU) remained static at 118 dirhams.
"If we move up for the coming year with a couple of
(percentage) points, I would consider this to be a decent result," said
Sultan.
Data income rose 46 percent year-on-year to 167 million
dirhams, providing just under 10 percent of mobile revenue.
Du said it had 639,700 fixed line customers in the third
quarter, up 24 percent from a year earlier. It added 16,100 lines in the three
months to Sept. 30, implying slowing growth.
Sultan said this would rise when a long-awaited network
infrastructure deal between the two UAE operators is finalized — du and
Etisalat already offer landline phone, broadband and TV, but not in the same
districts.
Yet this would likely be introduced in phases, rather
than a nationwide roll-out, Sultan said, implying it would miss a year-end
deadline previously mentioned by the UAE regulator.
Du has no plans to borrow before the end of 2011, Sultan
added, declining to comment on the firm's financing plans for next year. In
June, du repaid an $817 million loan facility.
