Consolidates revenues at Russian mobile operator Megafon grew by 4.7 percent year-on-year to RUB 88.73 billion in the third quarter of this year. OIBDA totaled RUB 33.65 billion, up by 0.9 percent, driven by revenue growth and adoption of the new IFRS standards. The OIBDA margin was 37.9 percent, down by 1.5 percentage points because of higher general and administrative expenses mainly resulting from an increase in spectrum fees.
The increase in total revenue was offset by an increase in VAS costs as it included dearer VAS content products in its portfolio, and because of adverse foreign currency rates, higher advertising expenses caused by new marketing initiatives, a significant increase in spectrum expenses following the revision of charges by the regulator, and higher personnel expenses resulting from an increase in the number of skilled professionals engaged to work on implementing the digital ecosystem strategy, the company claims.
Net profit decreased by 4.6 percent to RUB 7.74 billion.
Total service revenue increased by 6.3 percent to RUB 80.6 billion, driven by wireless revenue growth and in particular by data revenue growth of 11.8 percent. Fixed line revenue has gone up by 17.3 percent, driven both by revenues from traditional services and by revenues from digital projects which the operator has been completing for B2G clients under a programme already implemented in various regions of Russia, as well as infrastructure development for the FIFA World Cup, and other information and communication technology (ICT) projects being undertaken as part of its digital strategy.
Capital expenditure amounted to RUB 18.48 billion, up by 47.0 percent. The mobile subscriber base was 76.9 million, down by 0.4 percent.
