OREANDA-NEWS. MTS,Vimpelcom, Tele2 and Telenor's 3Q07 results suggest encouraging 3Q07 dynamics for the Russian and Ukrainian cellular markets, reads a market research published by an analytic company Aton Capital. Tele2's 3Q07 revenues in Russia were hit by the sale of its Irkutsk operations to Vimpelcom, but with a correction for this deal we estimate revenues were up 11% q-o-q, the analysts say and add, "We believe MTS and Vimpelcom should benefit from higher revenue seasonality compared to Tele2 (in Moscow, where subscribers' visits to their dachas mean summer usage growth exceeds the national average), so we are comfortable with a 12%-13% q-o-q revenue growth we project for MTS and Vimpelcom in Russia."

In Ukraine, Kyivstar's revenues were up by an estimated 15% q-o-q (the audited numbers are not available, as the courts have banned the publication of Kyivstar's financials), which makes experts' 13% projection for MTS' growth in Ukraine appear conservative, especially given the introduction of the new brand in July 2007.  MTS and Vimpelcom usually publish their third-quarter results at the end of November (the dates have yet to be specified). "We have 'Buy' recommendations on MTS and Vimpelcom with, 12-month target prices of $84 and $28.2, respectively," the experts sum up.