Moscow– July 13, 2012 – Rostelecom OJSC (the “Group”) (MICEX - RTS: RTKM, RTKMP; OTCQX: ROSYY), Russia’s national telecommunications operator, today announced its key operating and financial results for the first quarter, ended March 31, 2012.
FIRST QUARTER FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Consolidated revenues up 17% year-on-year to RUB 84.4 billion
OIBDA[1]up 29% year-on-year to RUB 34.8 billion
OIBDA margin of 41.2% compared to 37.1% in the first quarter of 2011
Net income up 38% year-on-year to RUB 14.6 billion
Capital expenditure[2] of RUB 20.4 billion, representing 24.1% of consolidated revenue
Net debt[3]of RUB 179.5 billion with a net debt / OIBDA ratio of 1.4x as at March 31, 2012.
KEY OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS
Total broadband subscriber base up 13% year-on-year to 8.4 million
Total Pay TV subscriber base increased by 8% year-on-year to 6.0 million, with the number of Interactive TV subscribers increased to 800 thousand by the end of the first quarter of 2012 and reaching 1 million in July 2012.
Alexander Provotorov, President of Rostelecom, commented: “We are delighted to be reporting a good set of first quarter financial results. Rostelecom’s growth during the quarter was supported by the strength of our Broadband and InteractiveTV segments, traditional strong performers. We also successfully completed the vast video surveillance project, which was carried out to monitor the Russian Presidential election voting process. This landmark project served as a major operational stress test for us and its successful completion is a major achievement for Rostelecom. Not only did it demonstrate the efficiency with which the united company is run, it also demonstrated our employees’ immense commitment, our ability to work seamlessly as a single team and our ability to accomplish unique large-scale projects within the most rigid timeframes.”
Anton Khozyainov, Senior Vice President of Rostelecom, added: “Rostelecom financial results grew significantly in the first quarter of 2012, despite the fact that our local tariffs remained unchanged for virtually the entire quarter, at rates set at the beginning of 2011. We are also maintaining a comfortable level of mainly ruble-denominated debt, and we are prolonging the payment terms of our short-term liabilities at very attractive rates - as demonstrated by a RUB 30 billion credit line recently obtained from Sberbank, secured at an interest rate of less then 9%. These efforts have been recognised by Fitch Ratings, who have now assigned Rostelecom with a ‘BBB-’ Corporate Credit Rating, and Standard & Poor’s, who has confirmed our ‘BB+’ rating, both with a Stable Outlook.”
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
RUB million |
1Q 2012 |
1Q 2011 |
% change, y-o-y |
Revenue |
84,437 |
72,366 |
17% |
OIBDA |
34,792 |
26,870 |
29% |
OIBDA margin, % |
41.2% |
37.1% |
|
Operating income |
18,911 |
13,862 |
36% |
Operating margin, % |
22.4% |
19.2% |
|
Net income |
14,614 |
10,562 |
38% |
Net margin, % |
17.3% |
14.6% |
|
Capital expenditures |
20,364 |
15,104 |
35% |
% of revenue |
24.1% |
20.9% |
|
Net debt |
179,473 |
154,366 |
16% |
Net debt/annualized OIBDA |
1.4õ |
1.5õ |
|
[1]Here and below, please refer to Attachment 1 to this statement for a full definition of OIBDA
2Here and below, capital expenditure (“CAPEX”) comprises cash spent on purchase of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets
3Here and below, net debt is calculated as the sum of long-term loans and short-term borrowings minus cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments
**PLEASE REFER TO THE ATTACHED PDF DOCUMENT FOR THE FULL RESULTS PRESS RELEASE**
OTHER INFORMATION
Conference call
Rostelecom will host a conference call today at
8.00 AM (ET) / 1.00 PM (UK) / 2.00 PM (CET) / 4.00 PM (MOSCOW).
Participants may access the call by dialling the following numbers:
Russia: +7 495 580 9543 UK/ International: +44 20 8515 2301 US: +1 480 629 9835
A replay of the conference call will be available on the Company’s website https://www.rostelecom.ru/en/ir/results_and_presentations/financials/2012/ in due course.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
IR department
Tel. +7 (499) 995-97-80
ir@rt.ru
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