OREANDA-NEWS. April 13, 2007. Open Joint Stock Company "Vimpel-Communications" ("VimpelCom" or the "Company") a leading provider of wireless telecommunications services in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) yesterday announced its financial and operating results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2006.
Attachments A, B and C present definitions for certain terms used in this press release, the condensed consolidated financial statements of VimpelCom and tables with relevant reconciliations of non-U.S. GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable U.S. GAAP financial measures. Selected financial and operating results are also reported for each of the countries where VimpelCom was operating as of December 31, 2006.
Financial and Operating Highlights2006
• Net operating revenues reached $4,868.0 million, an increase of 51.6% as compared with 2005.
• OIBDA reached $2,451.8 million, OIBDA margin was 50.4%, an all-time record for the Company.
• Net income totaled $811.5 million, an increase of 31.9% as compared with 2005.
• Capital expenditures (excluding acquisitions) totaled $1,512.1 million.
• Operating cash flow was $1,971.3 million, leading to the first ever positive free cash flow of $459.2 million.
• Entry into the markets of Uzbekistan, Georgia and Armenia increased the population in the territories covered by the Company’s license portfolio to 240 million.
• Subscriber base grew to approximately 55.1 million as of December 31, 2006, including 7.0 million in the CIS countries outside of Russia.
The fourth quarter of 2006
• Net operating revenues reached $1,451.4 million in the fourth quarter, a year-on-year increase of 59.4% and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 6.8%.
• OIBDA reached $689.8 million, a year-on-year increase of 64.4%.
• OIBDA margin was 50.3% in Russia and 47.5% for the Company.
• ARPU grew to $8.9 as compared with $7.1 and $8.7 recorded for fourth quarter of 2005 and the third quarter of 2006, respectively. It was the first time ever that VimpelCom reported ARPU growth in the fourth quarter.
• Net income totaled $198.0 million, a year-on-year increase of 30.4%.
• Operating cash flow was $540.4 million, a year-on-year increase of 46.3%.
• Market share leadership (49.5%) achieved in Kazakhstan after two full years of operations.