Russian MTS looses USD 26.1 million in Q4
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Net loss of USD 26.1 million for the fourth quarter has been reported by Russian and CIS mobile operator MTS because of one-time charges for its takeover of fixed-line operator Comstar-UTS.
The company made an investment of USD 368 million and another USD 86 million was taken for obsolete equipment and expenses related to the acquisition of Comstar and tax provisions. MTS finished 2009 with USD 2.5 billion in cash and its net debt increased to USD 5.59 billion. 10.1 percent decrease in the OIBDA going down to USD 1.19 billion has also been posted.
However, a rise in the subscriber base has been enjoyed which increased from 101.37 million in September 2009 to 102.36 million users at the end of the fourth quarter. For the future, the company has expressed its optimism regarding economic upturn predicting mid to high single-digit revenue growth in local currencies. Increased number of fixed and mobile subscribers accompanied by increased sale of handsets in its home market in Russia has been attributed as a reason behind the profitable future.
Vodafone UK remains silent on job cuts
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Plans for around 500 job losses in the UK unit of Vodafone have been reported as a part of a stepped up cost-cutting programme. The network’s headquarters in Newbury has the most predominant chances to expect this job cut.
However, any such claims has been dismissed as “highly speculative” by the Vodafone spokeswoman. 500 redundancies in the UK were announced by the company last year as part of an earlier £1 billion cost cutting exercise. Since then, the deadline for achieving the cuts has been brought forward besides doubling the target to £2 billion.
According to the media reports, the problem Vodafone have got is that it is so bloated, it has tons of people and they have to cut – it is absolutely essential.
