Du, the United Arab
Emirates’ No.2 telecom operator, reported a 43 percent fall in fourth-quarter
profit on Tuesday, beating analysts’ estimates as mobile data revenue rose.
The firm, which ended rival Etisalat’s domestic
monopoly in 2007, made a net profit of AED570m ($155.18m) in
the three months to December 31. This was down from AED994m in the
year-earlier period, Reuters calculated based on du’s previous financial
results, when the company wrote back some tax provisions.
Analysts polled by Reuters on average forecast du
would make a quarterly profit of AED487.9m.
Du said in a separate statement its board had
approved a cash dividend of AED0.19 per share.
UAE telecom operators are taxed via royalties under
licenses from the federal government. The latter announced a new formula in
December 2012 that includes a levy on revenue as well as profit and steadily
increases the level of taxation on du to eventually reach parity with
longer-established rival Etisalat.
Du said it paid an extra AED183.5m in
royalties in 2013 compared with a year earlier.
The company’s full-year profit for 2013 was AED1.99bn, up slightly on 2012.
Fourth-quarter revenue was AED2.87bn, up
8.3 percent from a year earlier.
Annual revenue rose 9.7 percent to AED10.8bn.
Mobile data revenue increased 34 percent to AED2.36bn last year, with data now accounting for 28 percent of mobile
revenue, up from 23 percent in 2012.
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