EITC posts 14% jump in profit to Dh449M
dubai — Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) reported on Tuesday a 14 per cent surge in net profit after royalty to Dh449 million in 2019 first quarter.
Revenue fell to Dh3.14 billion from Dh3.33 billion in the same 2018 quarter, driven by a decline in mobile revenue, which is partially offset by growth in fixed revenue, EITC said in a statement.
The telecom provider said it recorded a one-off benefit related to regulatory costs, which positively impacted company profitability for the year 2018. “Consequently, and excluding the one-off benefit, like-for-like earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and net profit after royalty increased by 4.7 per cent and 14 per cent respectively in first quarter 2019 as compared to the same period last year.”
Fixed revenue increased nine per cent to Dh611 million in line with previous quarters, while mobile revenue decreased eight per cent to Dh1.66 billion, “due to continued pressure from declining voice revenues and increased consumption of data,” the company said.
“We had a good start to the year, focusing on driving efficiency across the business to maintain profitability and increasing our capex spend as we prepare for the 5G launch very soon,” said Osman Sultan, EITC’s chief executive officer.
“Industry wide challenges, with continued pressure on voice revenues and data monetisation, are reflected in our top line results, with revenue decreasing 5.7 per cent to Dh3.14 billion in first quarter, mainly driven by the decline in mobile revenues of eight per cent to Dh1.66 billion,” the EITC CEO said. “The decline in our mobile base is a result of a
We had a good start to the year, focusing on driving efficiency across the business to maintain profitability and increasing our capex spend as we prepare for the 5G launch very soon
Osman Sultan, CEO, EITC
clean-up of our prepaid base in line with the “My Number My Identity” Campaign and our strategy to focus more on the higher value post-paid segment, which was indeed up by 12.4 per cent in the quarter compared to the same period last year,” he said.
“Fixed revenues continue to show strong growth, increasing nine per cent to Dh611 million, compared to the same quarter last year,” he said.
Sultan said despite the decline in revenue and the negative impact from the implementation of new accounting standards, adjusted EBITDA and net profit increased. “The growth in EBITDA and net profit is a result of good operational efficiency across the business.”
“We take a long-term view and remain focused on implementing our strategy to drive more efficiency in our core business, while capturing new areas of growth through ICT as we reposition our company for the future of the telecom business. We have a strong capital position, enabling us to make the right investments in our business,” said Sultan.