OREANDA-NEWS. On 26 August 2008 CenterTelecom announced its financial indicators for January-June 2008 compiled under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS).

Keyperformanceindicators:

Linesperemployeerose30.7% to166.02 lines(vs. 127 linesinH107);

Revenue per line rose 2.7% from Rub 2,346.41 in January-June 2007 to Rub 2,408.69 in the reporting period;

H108 revenue per employee amounted to Rub 399,880 or 33.8% more than in the same period a year ago (Rub 298,800);

Average headcount decreased 22.10% to 41,075 vs. 52,730 in January-June 2007;

Net margin improved to 12.29% against 11.26% in the year-earlier period.

The operator’s broadband Internet customer base (Domolink brand) soared 43.87% to 437,372 in H108 (304,000 at the end of 2007). The portion of Internet earnings reached 10.69% against 7.05% in January-June 2007.

As of the end of H108 main telephone lines increased 1.5% y-o-y to 6,678,220 (6,579,237 as of July 1, 2007).

CPP pushed up intrazonal earnings by 10.55% to Rub 3,071 mln in the first half of 2008 (Rub 2,778 mln in January-June 2007).

 The 44.6% y-o-y increase in other expenses in H1 2008 is due to a redistribution of transportation costs under a program aimed at restructuring business processes at CenterTelecom, higher private pension fund contributions and agency fees.

The increase in lease payments was due to a rise in lease payments in accordance with the implementation of a large-scale project launched by CenterTelecom to phase in a universal service mechanism in the various regions of the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation.  Pursuant to the effective Russian legislation, the company’s expenses are to be offset in future using contributions made to the universal service fund which has been established in Russia.