* Q2 profit 325.5 mln dirhams vs 207.2 mln
* Q2 revenue 2.45 bln dirhams vs 2.17 bln
* Fixed line subscribers near flat Q-on-Q
* Mobile market share falls slightly to 46.5 pct
DUBAI, July 30 (Reuters) - Du, the United Arab
Emirates' second biggest telecommunications operator, reported a
57 percent rise in second-quarter profit on Monday, which was at
the low end of analysts' estimates as subscriber growth for
fixed-line services lagged that for mobile.
The firm, which ended rival Etisalat's domestic
monopoly in 2007, made a net profit of 325.5 million dirhams
($88.6 million) in the three months to June 30, up from 207.2
million dirhams in the year-earlier period.
Analysts polled by Reuters had on average forecast du would
make a quarterly profit of 332 million dirhams.
Quarterly revenue was 2.45 billion dirhams, up 12.9 percent
from a year earlier. Of this, 1.9 billion dirhams came from
mobile customers.
Du had 5.73 million mobile subscribers as of June 30, up 3.5
percent from March 31 and 20 percent higher than a year ago.
But its share of the UAE's mobile subscribers fell slightly to
46.5 percent, indicating Etisalat is fighting back against its
smaller rival after du rapidly won market share in the first few
years following its launch.
The UAE mobile market is saturated, with mobile penetration
at 149 percent or almost 1.5 subscriptions per person. Rising
use of Internet-based phone services has hurt operators'
lucrative international calls business and weighed on call
margins, spurring operators to diversify revenue.
Du's fixed phone, broadband and television units recorded
year-on-year subscriber growth of between 13.2 and 19 percent,
but subscriber numbers were almost flat compared to the first
quarter, with television subscribers down 0.4 percent.
Total overheads were 733 million dirhams in the second
quarter, which equates to 29.9 percent of revenue, down from
35.2 percent in the corresponding period of 2011.
Du in April said it may bid for a virtual operator licence
in Saudi Arabia in what would be its first foreign foray.
($1 = 3.6730 UAE dirhams)
(Reporting by Matt Smith; Editing by Andrew Torchia)