OREANDA-NEWS. May 26, 2010. CenterTelecom hereby announces the company’s financial results for the first quarter of 2010 in accordance Russian Accounting Standards (RAS).

CenterTelecom’s main indicators for Q1 2010, RUR mln 

Indicator

Q 110

Q 109

%, Change

 

Revenue  from main types of activity

9,761

8,784

+11.12

 

incl. telecom services

9,214

8,295

+11.08

 

Operating expenses

7,942

7,030

+12.97

 

Incl. depreciation and amortization

976

1,155

-15.50

 

EBITDA (1)

4,346

3,082

+41.01

 

EBITDA margin (2)

44.52%

35.09%

-

 

EBIT

1,819

1,754

+3.71

 

Net profit

1,469

646

+127.40

 

(1) EBITDA is calculated as pre-tax profit plus interest payable, depreciation and amortization, lease payments minus interest receivable;

(2) EBITDA margin is calculated as EBITDA/revenue.

Efficiency indicators 

The number of lines per employee increased by 6.05% to 244.62 lines (vs. 230.66 in the first quarter of 2009);

Revenue per line in the first quarter of 2010 increased by 11.26% from RUR 1,277.16 in the first quarter of 2009 to RUR 1,420.93 in the reporting period;

Revenue per employee in the first quarter of 2010 amounted to RUR 347,059, which is 17.99% more than the metric in the first quarter of 2009  (294,059);

Average headcount decreased by 5.81% to 28,083 (vs. 29,815 in the first quarter of 2009).  

CenterTelecom’s main revenue indicators in Q1 2010, RUR mln 

Indicator

Q110

Q109

%, Change

 

Local telephony

4,695

4,160

+12.86

 

Intrazonal telephony (3)

1,454

1,484

-2.02

 

Outsourcing and agency fees

255

254

+0.39

 

Interconnect and traffic transit

995

925

+7.57

 

Datacom and Internet access services

1,746

1,412

+23.65

 

incl. Internet access

1,521

1,192

+27.60

 

Other revenue from main types of activity

324

315

+2.86

 

Other revenue from no-core activity

292

234

+24.79

 

TOTAL

9,761

8,784

+11.12

 

 (3) Revenue from intrazonal telephony, including revenue from intrazonal telephony with use of public phones and lease of intrazonal telecom channels.

The number of broadband Internet users increased during the first quarter of 2010 by 9.28% and amounted to 1,301 subscribers (1,191,292 subscribers as of year-end 2009).  The proportion of revenue derived from Internet access in the operator’s revenue breakdown increased to 15.58% (up from 13.57% in the first quarter of 2009). 

The number of main telephone lines as of the end of the first quarter of 2010 increased by 0.06% compared with the same period in 2009 and stood at 6,694,724 (vs. 6,698,732 as of April 1, 2009).

Breakdown of CenterTelecom’s in Q1 2010, RUR mln 

Indicator

Q 110

Q 109

%, Change

Depreciation and amortization of fixed assets

976

1,155

-15.50

Payroll and social insurance contributions

2,441

2,352

+3.78

Materials

693

555

+24.86

Interconnect

712

636

+11.95

Leasing 

1,450

905

+60.22

incl. lease payments

1,276

732

+74.32

Other

1,670

1,427

+17.03

TOTAL

7,942

7,030

+12.97

According to the general director of CenterTelecom Vaagn Martirosyan, the first quarter of 2010 was quite a difficult period for the company.  “The consequences of the economic recession in the economy exerted a smaller impact on our operations.  During the first three months of the year the pace of revenue growth increased to 11.12% compared with 7.27% during the same period in 2009.  The main revenue drivers turned out to be growth in local telephony earnings and Internet access, which went up by 12.86% and 27.60% respectively compared with the same period in 2009).  Commenting on the 12.97% increase in the company’s expenses, it should be noted that the main source was lease payments.  On the whole, the management of CenterTelecom was satisfied with the company’s financial and operating performance in the first quarter of 2010”, Mr. Martirosyan pointed out.