The Veon Group said revenues totaled USD 2.065 billion in the second quarter, up 9.2 percent from the year before on a reported basis. The company attributed the increase to accelerating revenue growth in Pakistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh, bolstered by improved local currency performance for the group.
The EBITDA lifted 8.7 percent on a reported basis to USD 879 million, with all reporting segments contributing to growth. The operational capex totaled USD 505 million. The net profit fell however by 27.1 percent to USD 127 million.
The group’s 4G user base increased by 26 million in the past year to a total of 93 million, helped by network investments and digital offerings. 4G subscriber penetration stood at 43 percent at quarter-end. The group also recorded a quarter-on-quarter increase in its total subscriber base, up by 0.9 million in April-June to 214 million.
Mobile data revenues increased by 19 percent in local currency (17% reported), driven by the growth in 4G users with correspondingly higher ARPUs. The group continues to expect growth in 4G users and an associated increase in 4G penetration to be a key tailwind for the group over the next few years.
Veon noted that its digital businesses continued to also perform well. JazzCash closed the quarter with 13 million monthly active users, up by 61 percent year-on-year). Toffee TV in Bangladesh reached 5 million monthly active users since its launch in November 2019 while Beeline TV in Russia had 3.0 million monthly active users, up 24 percent.
Although the group‘s operations continued to face the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic to a limited extent, adjustments made to business operations, including the greater use of digital channels to engage with customers, supported the group performance. While all the countries are still facing travel restrictions to some extent, which negatively impact roaming revenues, demand for data services has remained strong, enabling continued growth in data revenues at double-digit pace. In parallel, in several of markets, the group saw strong growth in fixed services as customers continue to work remotely.
Russia did show improved execution in revenue trends for the third successive quarter, with total revenue increasing by 6.2 percent in local currency terms, aided by improvements in handsets sales, growth in B2B revenue and fixed revenue. Mobile service revenue was also back to year-on-year growth. The group maintained its focus on investing in the expansion of 4G networks during the quarter, which now reach 77 percent of the 680 million combined population of nine operating markets, compared with 74 percent in the first quarter of 2020
Veon increased its full-year revenue guidance to high single-digit revenue local currency growth from mid-single-digit revenue growth, and its EBITDA forecast to mid to high single-digit EBITDA local currency growth from mid-single-digit EBITDA growth. The capex guidance remains at 22-24 percent of revenues.
