DUBAI: Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (“EITC”) published its financial results for the second quarter of 2021. It reported: (i) revenues of AED 2,855 million, a 7% increase year-on-year, (ii) an EBITDA of AED 1,130 million, a 7.3% increase year-on-year; (c) a net profit of AED 240 million, an 11.4% increase year-on-year and (d) capital expenditures of AED 649 million. On the basis of these results, the Board of Directors approved an interim dividend of AED 0.10 per share.

Operating highlights

• Mobile services are primed for growth. Our customer base grew 2.3% to 6.6 million as the economic recovery takes shape. Voice traffic rebounded ahead of pre-pandemic levels and compensated moderate data usage due to Wi-Fi offloading. Growing interest in 5G devices as well as attractive financing solutions for postpaid customers continue to fuel demand for handsets.
• Robust momentum in Fixed services. Consumers are responding to our broadband offerings. During the quarter, we added 31k broadband subscribers – a step change compared to previous periods. We ended the period with 279k broadband customers.
• The modernisation of our technology infrastructure is progressing according to plan. We pursued the modernisation of our 4G mobile network and accelerated 5G rollout. We signed agreements with NetCracker and Atos to support our IT and business transformation journeys.

Financial highlights

• Revenues grew 7% yoy to AED 2,855 million. Mobile revenues reversed its downward trend and stabilised at AED 1,295 million. Fixed revenues continued its growth path (+6.5% yoy) and reached an all-time high of AED 687 million: the enterprise and consumer segments both had a healthy performance. Other revenues increased 21.5% yoy to AED 873 million, buoyed mainly by handset sales as well as higher wholesale revenues.
• EBITDA increased by 7.3% yoy to AED 1,130 million aswe continue to implement our cost optimisation programme.  Margins remained stable at 39.6% in spite of higher handset sales.
• Net profit jumped 11.4% to AED 240 million. The increase in EBITDA was partially offset by higher depreciation and amortisation charges triggered by higher network investments and AED 18 million impairment charges on obsolete fixed assets.
• Capex increased 27.5% to AED 649 million as we continue executing our infrastructure modernisation plan. As a result, operating free cash flow decreased 11.7% to AED 481 million.

Financial summary