Uralsvyazinform (RTS and MICEX: URSI/URSIP), the largest fixed-line and mobile operator in the Urals region, has released its 9m 2004 operating and financial results drafted in accordance with Russian Accounting Standards (RAS).

 

Uralsvyazinform’s revenue surged 26% year-on-year mainly on the back of rising ILD/LD traffic, increased local telephone tariffs (subscription fees) and a rise in cellular users.

 

Revenues from fixed-line services climbed 24%;

Earnings from cellular services grew 20%;

ILD/LD revenues were up 27%;

Revenues from higher value-added services, including Internet, surged 48%.

 

EBITDA increased 22% year-on-year, while EBITDA margin stood at 35.7%. The increase in net profit totaled 13% and net margin was equal to 9.1%. The subscriber base stood at 5.1 mln customers, including 1.8 mln users of GSM cellular services.

 

Uralsvyazinform’s general director Vladimir Rybakin said that his company’s 9m 2004 financial results are fully in line and even overshoot previous forecasts, which once again underscores that Uralsvyazinform always delivers on its promises. Also noteworthy is a positive trend the telecom operator’s headline financials, as revenues climbed 26% and EBITDA rose by 22%.

 

A 60% growth in investments to Rub 5.5 bln was attributed to the fact that forward-looking investments in new technologies will enable telecom operators to develop in the high-tech and rapidly developing telecom industry. Most funds under the investment program are directed to expansion of cellular activities, i.e. nearly Rub 1.8 bln. This year the major cellular project was to roll out the GSM network in Yekaterinburg and the Sverdlovskregion, commissioned on September 28. In doing so, Uralsvyazinform’s GSM network covered all eight constituent entities, in the territory where it operates.

 

All in all, despite fiercer competition on the telecom market Uralsvyazinform has managed to retain its positions as the largest cellular operator in the Urals Federal District and the Permregion. Since January, the company has witnessed a 170% rise in its customer base of cellular users, including those signed up by its subsidiaries, up to 1.8 mln as of October 1, 2004.

 

Financial and operating indicators:

 

	30.09.2004	30.09.2003	Chg., %
Financial results
Revenue, Rub mln	17,327.4	13,754.9	+26%
Expenditure, Rub mln	12,752.6	10,053.5	+27%
EBITDA, Rub mln	6,185.7	5,087.3	+22%
EBITDA margin	35.7%	37.0%	-
Operating profit, Rub mln	4,574.7	3,701.3	+24%
Operating margin	26%	27%	-
Profit before taxes, Rub mln	2,492.1	2,016.1	+24%
Net profit, Rub mln	1,574.6	1,393.8	+13%
Net margin	9.1%	10.1%	-
Operating results
Customer base: fixed-line users, mln cellular users (GSM), mln*	3.3 1.8	3.1 0.9	+7% ?2.0
Digitalization of local networks, %	63.6	56.9	-
Penetration rate: fixed-line, % cellular, %**	24.4 33.2	20.4 13.7	- -
Averageheadcount, people	34,987	37,011	-5%

* includingsubsidiaries

** data from ACM Consulting on all cellular entities that operate in the Urals Federal Districtand the Permregion