UAE telco du posts rise in subscribers

UAE telecoms operator du beat analysts' expectations on Monday as it reported a 50 percent rise in third-quarter net profit, driven by higher data revenue and contract mobile subscribers. Du made a net profit of AED244.3m ($66.5m), compared with a profit of AED163.1m in the same period a year ago. Du, which ended Etisalat's domestic monopoly in 2007, said revenues were AED2.23bn n the quarter, up from AED1.74bn a year earlier. Mobile subscribers, which accounted for more than 75 percent of quarterly revenue, rose 162,000 from the second quarter to 4.94 million at September-end to give it a 45 percent market share. Contract customers, which typically spend more than their pre-paid counterparts, "continued to grow", du said, and now account for 7 percent of mobile subscribers. Data revenue rose 46 percent year-on-year to AED167m, proving just under 10 percent of mobile revenue. Du said it had 639,700 fixed line customers in the third-quarter, up 24 percent from a year earlier. It added 16,100 lines in the three months to Sept 30, implying slowing growth