Dubai – Mubasher: Financials for the first quarter of 2015 for Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co. “du” show that net profit after royalty “was flat on the year” reaching AED 487.1 million, the company said in a filing to the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Tuesday. Its profits for the same period in 2014 stood at AED 490.26 million.

Meanwhile, net profits before the deduction of royalty saw a 6.9% rise to AED 925 million during the quarter, the telecom operator said, adding that royalties increased 16.8% in Q1-15.

Fixed line and mobile data revenues grew 20.5% and 14.4%, respectively, underpinning the firm’s quarterly performance.

Revenues stood at AED 3.05 billion, a 3.2% increase compared to AED 2.96 billion in Q1-14.

Earnings per share (EPS) remained flat at AED 0.11, according to the filing.

The Dubai-listed operator previously reported a net profit growth, after royalties, by 6% to AED 2.11 billion, up from AED 2 billion in 2013. The company’s shareholders approved on 17 March a cash dividend of 20 fils per share for the second half of 2014, bringing total dividends for 2014 to 32 fils per share.

The operator is 39.5% owned by the Emirates Investment Authority (EIA), 20.08% by Mubadala Development Co. and 19.5% by Emirates Communications and Technologies Limited.