Du Q3 profit slides on higher expenses

Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, also known as du, reported a 65.6 per cent slide in third-quarter net profit, as operating expenses rose and the operator registered higher depreciation and amortisation charges, despite a rise in revenue.

The total profit for the three month period to the end of September declined to Dh283 million ($77.05m), the company said in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded. Operating expenses during the period jumped more than 14 per cent to Dh2.26 billion from a year earlier.

Revenue jumped 6.9 per cent to Dh2.87bn on sustained demand for broadband services and 5G handsets, according to the company.

“Our fixed services business delivered another solid quarter,” Fahad Al Hassawi, chief executive of du, said. “Broadband net-adds accelerated to 52k thanks to an attractive service offering. In addition, we see corporate demand for fixed services returning.”

“Our commercial initiatives in mobile services are bearing fruits. The refreshed prepaid mobile tariffs are pushing gross-adds on the prepaid segment towards pre-pandemic levels."

Following two years of capital deployment, the company’s “5G network is now accessible to 90 per cent of the population," he said.

The company's mobile customer base reached 6.5 million in the period, with the company gaining 1.3 million post-paid customers, while prepaid customers fell to 5.2 million subscribers due to "summer seasonality and flight restrictions brought by the Covid-19 Delta variant", the company said.

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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if you go

New UK refugee system

A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds

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Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km

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Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

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Wed Aug 29 – Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore
Thu Aug 30 - UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman
Sat Sep 1 - UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal
Sun Sep 2 – Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore
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Main report

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All games 6pm UAE on Sunday:
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Austrian Grand Prix race timings

Weekend schedule for Austrian Grand Prix - all timings UAE

Friday

Noon-1.30pm First practice

4-5.30pm Second practice

Saturday

1-2pm Final practice

4pm Qualifying

Sunday

4pm Austrian Grand Prix (71 laps)

White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogenChromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxideUltramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica contentOphiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on landOlivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour