Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, also known as Du, saw its full-year 2022 net profit rise to AED 1.22 billion ($332 million), as revenues rose by more than 9% on the back of a sustained demand for broadband services and 5G handsets.

Net profit for the year ended 31 December 2022 was 10.8% higher than the previous year, as higher EBITDA and lower net finance costs were offset by an increase in depreciation and royalty charges, Du said in a disclosure on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), where its shares trade.

Revenue for the year reached AED 12.75 billion, up by 9.2% from the same period in 2021. Full-year EBITDA grew by 12% to AED 5.14 billion, driven by strong growth in service revenues and margin expansion.

The company also ended the year with 7.9 million mobile subscribers, with 494,000 subscribers added in the last quarter of 2022.

It said that its post-paid customer base grew 10.7% to 1.5 million, while pre-paid customer base expanded to 6.4 million.

The company’s fixed customer base increased by 37.3%, with 27,000 subscribers added during the last three months of 2022.

The increase in subscriber numbers has been driven by population growth and high tourism activity.

With the positive results, the company’s board is recommending that the full-year dividend is increased to 24 fils per share, out of which 11 fils per share were already paid in August 2022 as an interim dividend.

“This corresponds to a 14.3% increase and a distribution of 99.1% of net profit after appropriation for statutory reserves,” said Malek Sultan Al Malek, Chairman of Du.