OREANDA-NEWS. September 23, 2009. Uralsvyazinform (РTS and MICEX: URSI/URSIP, ADRs: UVYZY/UVYPY) hereby announces the release of is unaudited consolidated financial statement for the first half of 2009 in accordance with international financial reporting standards (IFRS).

Headline financial indicators

Indicator

H12009

H12008

Change

Revenue, Rub, mln

20,102

20,019

+0.4%

EBITDA, Rub, mln

7,899

7,297

+8.2%

EBITDA margin, %

39.3%

36.5%

-

EBITD, Rub, mln

3,986

3,759

+6%

Operating margin

19.8%

18.8%

-

Profit for reporting period, Rub, mln

1,658

1,691

-2%

Net margin, %

8.2%

8.4%

-

[1]EBITDA is calculated as pre-tax profit not including depreciation and interest expenses (net).  [2] Margin indicators are calculated as the ratio of the respective metric to EBIT.

Revenue breakdown

 

H12009

Share

H12008

Share

Change

Mobileand radio (cellular) telephony

6,248

31.1%

6,483

32.4%

-3.6%

Local voice telephony

5,230

26.0%

5,122

25.6%

+2.1%

Telegraphic services, datacom and telematic services (Internet)

3,200

15.9%

2,389

11.9%

+33.9%

Intrazonal telephony

2,307

11.5%

2,534

12.7%

-9%

Interconnect and traffic transmission

2,276

11.3%

2,628

13.1%

-13.4

Otherrevenue

542

2.7%

562

2.8%

-3.6%

Mobile telephony, wire broadcasting, radio broadcasting, television

267

1.3%

247

1.2

+8.1%

Outsourcing and agency fees

27

0.1%

42

0.2%

-35.7%

Other

5

0.1%

12

0.1%

-58.3%

Total

20,102

100%

20,019

100%

+0.4%

The increase in revenue under the line item for datacom and Internet access amounted to Rub 811 mln (+33.9% compared with the first six months of 2008), which is attributable to growth in the number of broadband Internet users and volumes of services provided.

The number of connected broadband Internet subscribers as of June 30, 2009 stood at 633,300 (+61.4% compared with the same date in 2008).  The volume of Internet information transmitted online stood at 37,335 TB, which is 5.8 times more than in the first six months of 2008).  The share of this item in the company’s overall revenue increased from 11.9% to 15.9%.

The portion of revenue from unregulated telecom services (mobile telephony and Internet) in the company’s total revenue breakdown stood at 47% in H1 2009, up from 44.3% in the first six months of 2008).

Breakdown of operating expenses

 

 

H12009

Share

H12008

Share

Change

Payrolls

4,023

23.8%

4,652

27.2%

-13.5

Depreciation and amortization

4,096

24.2%

3,558

20.8%

+15.1%

Interconnect fees payable to telecom operators

2,890

17.1%

2,798

16.4%

+3.3%

Materials, service and maintenance, utilities

1,622

9.6%

1,667

9.7%

-2.7%

Otheroperatingexpenses, incl.

4,278

25.3%

4,425

25.9%

-3.3%

Outsourcingandmanagementexpenses

1,057

6.3%

1,020

6.0%

+3.6%

Agency fees

1,192

7.0%

1,052

6.2%

+13.3%

Taxes, except for profit tax

524

3.1%

519

3.0%

+1.0%

Expenses related to leasing assets

361

2.1%

362

2.1%

-0.3%

Total operating expenses

16,909

100%

17,100

100%

-1.1%

All in all, operating expenses in the first half of 2009 decreased in comparison with the same period in 2008 by 1.1%, which is the result of anti-crisis measures adopted by management and stricter cost control.  During the first half of 2009 the portion of payroll expenses decreased to 23.8% (versus 27.2% in the first six months of 2008).  A Rub 538 mln increase in depreciation charges was due to the commissioning of new fixed assets.  The total amount of fixed assets commissioned during the first six months of 2009 amounted to Rub 888 mln.

The full version of the H1 2009 financial results can be viewed on the operator’s Russian website at full version of press release.

The full Russian text of Uralsvyazinform’s H1 2009 accounting reports can be found here.