Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (“EITC”), branded as du, announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2022. Full-year revenues grew by 9.2% to AED 12.75 billion on sustained demand for broadband services and 5G handsets as well as a gradual recovery of mobile services. It reported a 10.8% improvement in net profit to AED 1.22 billion as higher EBITDA and lower net finance costs were offset by an increase in depreciation and royalty charges.
The company’s revenues in Q4 grew (+8.0%), attributed to steady growth in service revenues. Full-year EBITDA increased by 12.0% to AED 5.14 billion on the back of strong growth in service revenues and margin expansion, as well as cost control despite inflationary pressure.
In 2022, EITC invested AED 2.2 billion, as evidenced by the rapid 5G network roll-out. Operating Free Cash Flow (EBITDA – Capex) for the year increased by 47.3% to AED 2.9 billion, due to higher EBITDA and the start of the normalization of Capex spend.
On the basis of these solid results, the Board has recommended increasing the full-year dividend to 24 fils per share, out of which 11 fils per share were paid as an interim dividend in August 2022.
2022 Operating Highlights
Mobile customer base grew 8.9% year-over-year, ending the year with 7.9 million subscribers on strong net additions in the last quarter (494,000).
Fixed customer base increased by 37.3% year-over-year, ending the year with 537,000 subscribers on solid net additions of 27,000 in Q4 (full-year 2022 net additions: 146,000).
Commenting on the results, Malek Sultan Al Malek, chairman at du, said, “Our results confirm the success of our strategy and the efficiency of our operating model. I am optimistic that the management team will continue to deliver on our objectives.”
Meanwhile, Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO at du, said, “We made tangible progress on our 5G network roll-out, fiber deployment and IT transformation. I would particularly praise my team for their commercial dynamism, their management of the cost base in an inflationary environment and their continuous effort to transform the business.
“We will continue on the same path to become a leading digital telecom operator. We have proved that we can innovate to push growth in our business. We will continue to invest in our infrastructure and in our people to accelerate innovation and continue our transformation programme.”
