Nizhny Novgorod, September 2003: OJSC VolgaTelecom (RTS: NNSI, NNSIP) has released its 2002 IAS consolidated financial statement.  The statement includes the results of merged entities in view of the super-regional consolidation which took place in the Volgafederal district in 2002.

Ernst & Young Vneshaudit conducted the audit of the company’s financial statement.

Key financial indicators are as follows:

·        Revenue was Rub 13.2 bln;

·        Opex was Rub 10.9  bln;

·        profit from primary activity was Rub 2.3 bln;

·        EBITDA* was Rub 4.2 bln;

·        Pre-tax profit was Rub 2.3 bln;

·        Net profit was Rub 915 mln;

·        Income per common share was Rub 3.43;

·        Long-term assets stood at Rub 17.6 bln;

·        Current assets stood at Rub  2.5 bln;

·        Current obligations were Rub 4.0 bln;

·        Cash flow at end of reporting period was Rub 214.8 bln.  

The company’s revenue rose 21% compared to RAS mainly due to the consolidation of the cellular business. Cellular revenue accounted for 10.8% of the company’s total revenue in 2002, whereas the largest revenue component was 32% from LD traffic.  In addition, 37% of all revenues were attributable to value-added customers, one of the company’s target market segments.

According to IAS, Volga Telecom’s EBITDA exceeded the RAS indicator by just 1%.  EBITDA margin was 32% compared with 38% as per RAS. The main reason for this divergence is a different basis for accounting.