OREANDA-NEWS. On 04 July 2008 Rostelecom (NYSE: ROS; RTS, MICEX: RTKM, RTKMP), Russia’s national telecommunications operator, announced audited consolidated results for the full year ended December 31, 2007 in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS):

Consolidated revenue for the full year 2007 increased by 4.9% to RUB 64,602.0 million;

Domestic long-distance traffic rose 4.7% compared to 2006. Outgoing international traffic decreased by 5.8% year on year while incoming international traffic increased by 24.4%;

Full year 2007 OIBDA* increased by 7.6% to RUB 11,110.0 million, representing an OIBDA margin of 17.2%;

2006 FY net profit amounted to RUB 2,806.0 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 92.7%.

Rostelecom’s General Director Konstantin Solodukhin commented: “In 2007 the Company continued its success, operating in what has become a highly competitive environment following the liberalization of the long-distance market. Our performance demonstrates Rostelecom’s solid position in the traditional telecom segments and reflects our increased presence in new service markets.

Proactive development and promotion of new products and services enabled the Company to deliver an impressive increase in revenues from data transmission services - one of the most promising growth segments for the Company. It has been a year since Rostelecom became actively engaged in the wholesale Internet services market, and during this time Rostelecom managed to attain 11% market share.  We plan to substantially increase our presence in this segment in the coming years.

By leveraging our competitive advantages, we were able to maintain our solid position in traditional long-distance services to end-customers while building on our strong position in the international operators’ market.

Effective collaboration with regional operators and the expansion of Rostelecom’s own nationwide network of Customer Care Centers contributed to improved operating efficiency compared to the previous year.

In 2008, our primary objectives are to further diversify the business through the active expansion of our range of services while maintaining the Company’s solid positions in traditional telecom segments.”