By: Amr Adel
Dubai – Mubasher: Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co (du) is expected to continue to provide dividends to shareholders at its current pace in the second half of 2017, CEO Osman Sultan said Tuesday.
The company is bound by a specific dividend distribution policy, he said in a conference call, noting that he expects the telecom operator to distribute dividends at the same level as 2016.
In 2016, du distributed 34 fils per share for the full year, and 21 fils per share for the second half of the year.
Earlier on Tuesday, du announced plans to distribute AED 589.3 million as interim dividends to shareholders for H1-17, at 13 fils per share.
The distributions are subject to approval at du’s general meeting in September 2017, a statement on Tuesday showed.
The Dubai-based telecom operator logged AED 811.51 million in profits in H1-17, down 12.3% year-on-year from AED 925.52 million.
At the level of the second quarter, du’s profits stood at AED 446.57 million, compared to AED 445.44 million, registering a marginal increase of 0.4% year-on-year.
It is unlikely that du will double its profits at present, owing to the ongoing market challenges such as higher tariffs on mobile and data services, particularly those in the UAE’s telecom sector, the CEO said.
du is currently working on bolstering its revenues outside the telecom sector to represent 15% of the company’s total revenues compared to a current 2%, du’s top executive revealed.
Boosting non-traditional sources of revenue will be carried out through focusing on smart communities and cities, Sultan noted, indicating that services like data-hosting, corporate cloud services, and TV and music content are among the non-traditional sources.
du is also planning to increase its revenues through communication services by focusing on increasing returns from data, which currently represent 38% of the company’s total returns, the top official revealed in the conference call.
Virgin Mobile
du began commercial operations for its new brand Virgin Mobile in the first week of Ramadan, Sultan said, noting that there were thousands of subscribers for the new brand, which was launched in late January.
Virgin Mobile is a commercial agreement with Virgin, under which du will use Virgin’s brand in the UAE. The deal does not involve a third operator licence or virtual private network (VPN).
Operating efficiency
du is currently working on applying its operating efficiency programme, begun earlier in the year, and which aims to save up to AED 1 billion ($272.5 million) over a three-year period by trimming costs, the CEO said.
Investments
The Dubai-based telecom operator is likely to invest between AED 1.6 billion and AED 1.7 billion in telecom infrastructure, networks, and IT systems in 2017, the top official added.
Sultan further noted that his company was planning to invest further in the Virgin Mobile brand, as well as in the smart cities segment.
Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi
