Kyivstar revenues down 2.3% to UAH 2.8 bln in Q2

Ukrainian operator Kyivstar saw its net operating revenues fall by 2.3 percent year-on-year to UAH 2.767 billion in Q2, caused by the ARPU decrease and the cut in interconnect rates. In comparison with the previous quarter, revenue increased by 7.5 percent due to the stabilised subscriber base and higher ARPU reflecting seasonal effects and the growing demand for data services. OIBDA fell by 3.4 percent year-on-year to UAH 1.575 billion, with an OIBDA margin of 56.9 percent versus 57.5 percent in the year-ago period. Operating income increased by 14.8 percent to UAH 622 million, and net income was UAH 432 million compared to UAH 524 million in the year-ago quarter. Kyivstar's subscriber base increased 0.1 percent in comparison with Q1 to 21.948 million, reaching a market share of 40 percent, unchanged versus the previous quarter. MOU increased by 47.7 percent in comparison with the same period of the previous year to 447, while mobile ARPU fell from UAH 41.4 in Q2 2009 and rose by 8.5 percent sequentially to UAH 40.9 in Q2. Capex in Q2 increased by 56.1 percent in comparison with last year to USD 58.9 million. The MOU growth and the ever-growing demand for data services resulted in the network capacity investment growth.