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Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company – also known as du – will continue to inject capital into strengthening its network and its digital transformation to build capacity for a pandemic-led communications boom.
The UAE s second-biggest telecoms operator has committed 19.7 per cent of its quarterly revenues to capital expenditure on an ongoing basis, Fahad Al Hassawi, acting chief executive of EITC, said.
Focus areas for investment include digital transformation, core network improvements and a 5G rollout.
“Digital transformation was always our priority but the pandemic has accelerated our focus and the pace of momentum,” Mr Al Hassawi, told
The National in an interview.
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Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, also known as du, reported a 27 per cent drop in its first-quarter net profit this year.
The company declared a net profit of Dh257 million ($69.9m) during the first quarter, compared with Dh355m in the same period last year, du said in a statement on Tuesday to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares trade.
However, net profit for the January-March period more than quadrupled against the fourth quarter of 2020, on the back of an improving economy, the company said.
The UAE s second-biggest telecoms operator s revenue slid almost 3.6 per cent annually to Dh2.8 billion. On a quarterly basis, it surged 5.2 per cent.
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.
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Shares of Etisalat and Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, also known as du, jumped more than 14 per cent after the telecommunications operators said they are considering an increase in the foreign ownership limit in their stocks.
Etisalat, the biggest telecoms company in the UAE, soared 14.9 per cent to Dh20.80 per share at close on Tuesday, boosting the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange general index by 3.14 per cent.
Du s shares surged 14.6 per cent to Dh6.69, lifting the Dubai Financial Market General Index by 1 per cent.
Du s board will meet on January 20 “to consider the increase in the ownership percentage of non-UAE citizens in the company’s shares”, it said in a regulatory filing.