Vimpelcom’s revenue in the first quarter decreased by 2.6% – Kommersant

According to the results of January-March 2023, the total revenue of the mobile operator VimpelCom (Beeline brand) according to international financial reporting standards fell from 72.2 billion to 70.3 billion rubles. At the same time, the company’s EBITDA for the reporting period increased by 10.2% and amounted to 30.4 billion rubles.

The operator’s subscriber base also decreased by 4.5 million people and amounted to 44 million, which is 9.2% less than last year. The number of data users decreased by 7% to 30.9 million and 4G smartphone users by 2.2% to 29.4 million, for a total of 25.1 million 4G users in the first quarter, down 0 .6%.

The total revenue from the provision of fixed-line communication services increased by 7.3% and amounted to 11.3 billion rubles. At the same time, there was an increase in total and service revenue in the B2B segment by 4.9% and 5.4%, respectively. The operator’s capital expenditures in the first quarter of 2023 decreased by 51.5% to RUB 8 billion. The report explains that this is because key network upgrades are scheduled for the second half of the year.

VimpelCom announced in November 2022 that a group of top managers of the company headed by CEO Alexander Torbakhov entered into an agreement to acquire 100% in it from Veon. The buyer was supposed to be OAO Copernicus-Invest 3, Mr. Torbakhov.

According to Kommersant, VimpelCom was going to buy back the debt of Veon Holdings BV on Eurobonds from the holders by issuing replacement bonds that would actually double the debt burden of the Russian company (the entire VimpelCom was valued at 370 billion rubles during the sale, the company’s net debt is 240 billion rubles). Now the transaction is at an advanced stage of implementation, all necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained at the level of Russian jurisdiction, follows from the company’s message.

Vadim Krasnikov