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Russia’s MegaFon sets $1.7b investment in ‘08 (Russia)

  • January 14th, 2008
  • 6:24 am

MegaFon, Russia’s No.3 mobile phone operator, plans to raise investments by a third to $1.7 billion in 2008, a Reuters report said.

The Reuters report quoted unlisted MegaFon, which ranks behind market leaders MTS and Vimpelcom, as saying that in a presentation the investment will be made in expanding coverage, improving service quality and introducing new value-added services.

The firm estimated 2007 investment at $1.3 billion and said its capital expenditure has been covered from internal cash flow from operations since the second half of 2006, the report said.

It said this year it will focus on improving average revenue per user and decreasing churn and will also explore external growth opportunities, the report said.

It gave no other details.

MegaFon earlier said it would invest up to $250 million in a nationwide 3G mobile network in 2008, which will enable it to offer high-speed mobile broadband services, the report added.

MegaFon services more than 35 million clients in Russia and Tajikistan and has a 20.5% Russian market share, the report further said.

   

Vimpelcom posts Q3 record net income of USD 458 mln (Russia)

  • November 30th, 2007
  • 2:22 pm

Russian mobile operator Vimpel Communications (Vimpelcom) has reported record net operating revenue of USD 1.96 billion for Q3 2007, up 43.9 percent from Q3 2006 and up 13.9 percent from Q2 2007. OIBDA reached a record USD 1.01 billion for the quarter, up 41.4 percent year-on-year and up 13.2 percent quarter-on-quarter; with net profit up 70.7 percent year-on-year to a record USD 458 million. The consolidated figures cover its operations in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia and Armenia. Vimpelcom registered a total of 50.69 million active mobile subscribers at end-Q3 2007, up 18.9 percent from 42.64 million a year earlier.

Its Russian operations had a total of 41.80 million active subscribers at end-September, up 7.8 percent from 38.79 million a year earlier. Its Russian business generated Q3 revenue of USD 1.65 billion, up 34.5 percent from USD 1.23 billion in Q3 2006; with net income of USD 422.58 million, up 50.1 percent from USD 279.96 million. ARPU in Russia was USD 13.40 in Q3 2007, up 26.4 percent from USD 10.60 in Q3 2006, with average minutes of use (MOU) up 37.5 percent year-on-year from 151.9 to 208.9 minutes. Churn rate in Russia was 10.1 percent, versus 9.9 percent in Q3 2006.

   

TeliaSonera reports 3Q group results (Sweden)

  • October 26th, 2007
  • 2:45 pm

Scandinavian telecoms group TeliaSonera has posted its ‘best ever’ third quarter results, according to its president, Lars Nyberg, who highlighted ‘strong sales growth and substantial profit contributions’ from the group’s Eurasian division as a key factor. The Stockholm-based fixed line, mobile and broadband operator reported that consolidated revenues in the three months to the end of September 2007 increased by 7.1% year-on-year to SEK24.798 billion (USD3.855 billion), whilst EBITDA excluding non-recurring items reached SEK8.714 billion, down from SEK8.756 billion in 3Q06. Quarterly operating income excluding non-recurring items increased to SEK8.354 billion, from SEK7.802 billion a year earlier, and net income rose from SEK5.745 billion in 3Q06 to SEK6.213 billion in 3Q07. The company expects full-year net profit in 2007 to be ‘somewhat higher’ than in 2006, excluding the positive one-off items of approximately SEK1.7 billion last year.

TeliaSonera’s total number of subscribers increased during the quarter to 109.5 million by the end of September 2007, with 2.5 million net new subscriptions at majority-owned operations and 3.6 million net acquisitions at associated companies. In its Mobility Services division, turnover increased 6.4% year-on-year to SEK11.551 billion (SEK10.859 billion), lifted by the acquisition of MVNO debitel in Denmark in April, the continued development of Spanish 3G operator Yoigo and solid volume growth in Sweden and the three Baltic countries. Strong underlying development in Finland also helped the results. In the group’s Broadband Services area, total sales increased 2.6% year-on-year to SEK10.378 billion (SEK10.119 billion), with revenue rising in all markets except Sweden, where a decline in turnover, caused by lower fixed voice sales, is slowing down and ‘approaching the point where growth in broadband sales fully compensates for the decrease in fixed voice’, according to the firm’s press release. In absolute terms sales were strongest in Wholesale where voice, internet and data revenues continued to rise. Estonia and Lithuania reported record high sales due to strong growth in broadband internet services. In the Eurasia division, net sales rose 26.5% year-on-year to SEK2.911 billion (SEK2.302 billion), boosted by continuing strong subscriber growth, particularly in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, as well as recent acquisitions in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Total group CAPEX in July-September 2007 was SEK3.339 billion, up from SEK2.743 billion in the same period of 2006, driven mainly by increased investments in network capacity, and the launch of new mobile and broadband services. Lars Nyberg identified one of the group’s main priorities as migrating users from traditional fixed line voice networks to new services. ‘Currently, traditional fixed voice services generate approximately one third of the company’s free cash flow and hence shifting the product mix, including investments and costs, from traditional to new services is crucial,’ according to the president.

   

Vimpelcom performs above par (Russia)

  • September 2nd, 2007
  • 2:30 pm

Vimpelcom, Russia’s second largest mobile operator by subscribers, has posted a second-quarter year-on-year net profit rise of 84.3%, well above market expectations, due mainly to growing usage. The cellco reported net income of USD359.3 million versus USD194.9 million in the same period of 2006 and USD277.3 million in the first quarter of 2007. In a poll, analysts had forecast second-quarter earnings of USD324 million. CEO Alexander Izosimov said in a statement that his company achieved all-time records in key parameters, including revenue, OIBDA, net income, operating cash flow, and growth was further supported by improving operating parameters, including monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) and minutes of use in all markets. The consolidated results include Vimpelcom’s operations in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia and Armenia. OIBDA increased 59.7% to USD896.8 million, and net operating revenues rose 53.1% to USD1.72 billion. ARPU reached USD12.3 from USD9 a year before, above analysts’ expectations of USD10.6. ‘This further validates our belief in the high growth potential of the CIS, which is becoming an increasingly important part of our business,’ Izosimov said.

   

 

TeliaSonera Eurasian acquisition

  • July 9th, 2007
  • 12:57 pm

TeliaSonera said Monday it has signed an agreement to acquire up to 100% of the outstanding shares in MCT Corp., a U.S. based company with majority controlling shareholdings in three Eurasian GSM operators in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and a minority interest in the leading GSM operator in Afghanistan.

The closing of the transaction is pending fulfilment of certain conditions and TeliaSonera estimates that these conditions will be met during the third quarter 2007.

The four GSM operators are:

Uzbek-American Joint Venture “Coscom” LLC (Coscom), the third largest mobile operator in Uzbekistan. MCT has a 99.97% interest in Coscom.

 

   
 

TeliaSonera Signed Agreement to Expand Presence in Eurasia

  • July 9th, 2007
  • 11:42 am

TeliaSonera AB has signed an agreement to acquire up to 100 percent of the outstanding shares in MCT Corp. (MCT), a U.S.-based company with majority controlling shareholdings in three Eurasian GSM operators in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and a minority interest in the leading GSM operator in Afghanistan. The closing of the transaction is pending fulfilment of certain conditions and TeliaSonera estimates that these conditions will be met during the third quarter 2007.

The four GSM operators are:
- Uzbek-American Joint Venture “Coscom” LLC (Coscom), the third largest mobile operator in Uzbekistan. MCT has a 99.97 percent interest in Coscom.

- CJSC “Indigo Tajikistan” (Indigo-Tajikistan) and CJSC Joint Venture “Somoncom” (Somoncom), combined the second largest mobile operation in Tajikistan. MCT has 60 percent interest in Indigo-Tajikistan and 59.4 percent interest in Somoncom.

- “Telecom Development Company Afghanistan Ltd” (Roshan), the largest mobile operator in Afghanistan. MCT has a 12.25 percent interest in Roshan.

 

   

Vimpelcom reports sales growth

  • May 30th, 2007
  • 8:36 am

Vimpelcom, Russia’s second largest cellular operator in terms of subscribers, has reported net operating revenues of USD1.49 billion for the first three months of this year, up 59% from Q1 2006. OIBDA increased 58.8% to USD766.4 million, while net income reached USD277.3 million, up 84.6% year-on-year. At the end of March the group had 45.78 million subscribers across its operations in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia and Armenia.