A mixed 2Q for Dewa: The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) reported a 24% y-o-y drop in net income in the second quarter of the year to AED 1.98 bn despite a rise in customers and demand, according to financial statements (pdf) released on Thursday. Dewa’s revenues were up 4.3% y-o-y in 2Q reaching AED 7.3 bn.

Driving the rise in topline: The growth in consolidated revenues during the second quarter came on the back of increased demand for electricity, water, and cooling services and a rise in revenues by the utility company’s other portfolio of assets, its earnings release (pdf) explained. It also reported a rise in the number of customer accounts during the quarter by nearly 15k to reach 1.18 mn customers.

A rocky 1H: Dewa reported a 18.8% y-o-y fall in net income during the first half of the year to report AED 2.7 bn on the back of a rise in net finance costs and depreciation. Net finance costs were higher by AED 262 mn due to an increase in the Emirates Interbank Offered Rate (EIBOR) and a lower capitalized interest of new IPP projects that have been commissioned. Depreciation also increased by AED 190 mn due to the newly commissioned projects, triggering the plunge in net profit during the first six months of the year. Revenues were up by c. 5% y-o-y in the first half of the year to report AED 12.7 bn.