
Mobil’nye Telesistemy PAO (NYSE:MBT) issued its unaudited IFRS financial report for the quarter closed September 30, 2017. Andrei Dubovskov, the CEO and President, expressed that they are delighted to post another set of results for company. For the period, the group revenue surged 2.1% YoY to RUB 114.6 bln as a continued improvement in consumer and business sentiment has enabled them to monetize the robust growth in data and voice usage in Russia regardless of a slight YoY drop in subscribers.
The details
Mobil’nye Telesistemy recorded a positive contribution from its Ukraine subsidiary, where overall growth is also supported by increased data adoption. Dubovskov remarkable growth in profitability comes from increased usage of increased-value data offerings in Russia, including enhanced global roaming activity, in addition to their initiatives to optimize retail operations. For the quarter, they recorded gains from a small decline in retail outlets, going back from the starting of the year, as well as a marginal decline in SIM-card sales.
Mobil’nye Telesistemy has been active in the digital segment by expanding into segments, which complement company’s core offerings. Dubovskov bought LiteBox, an active provider of web cash register services, to improve their payments ecosystem and extend their B2B platform for business customers and merchants.
They also bought a part in Sistema Capital Management to expand their financial service portfolio. The company introduced a Big-Data-as-a-Service product, launched a new application MTS Taxi and enhanced their interactive TV service offering with an objective of offering consumers with better and broader services. They also finalized a milestone deal with Ericsson to set company’s network for 5G services over the upcoming few years.
Provided company’s robust 9M performance, they consider they can revise their projection to reflect their improving market position. The management has reduced its outlook for Group Revenue to 0/+2% growth from -2/+2% growth.