OREANDA-NEWS. September 12, 2012. Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd. (SSTL), which operates its telecom services under the MTS brand in India, today announces its unaudited consolidated financial results for the Second Quarter ended June 30, 2012.

Key Financial & Operational Highlights for the Second Quarter of 2012

- Consolidated revenues up by 2.6% Q-o-Q to INR 4,177 million (USD 77 million). Total wireless (Voice & Data) subscriber base for the quarter grew by 4.9% to 16.60 million.

- Non-voice revenues from both data and mobile VAS for the quarter up by 3.9% Q-o-Q to INR 1,484 million (USD 27.4 million), which now contributes 35.5% of total revenue. The contribution of Non Voice Revenues to the Total Revenues is amongst the highest in the industry.

- Blended mobile ARPU for the quarter declined by 2.3% to INR 83.

- SSTL's data card subscriber base for the quarter up by 11.8% to 1.73 million subscribers. SSTL added 0.18 million data card subscribers during the quarter.

- The Company's HSD services now cover over 420 towns across India.

- Consolidated OIBDA loss for the quarter stands at INR 4,509 million (USD 83.8 mn). OIBDA margins improved 39 p.p. Y-o-Y.

- SSTL further strengthened its Smartphone Portfolio with the launch of MTS MTag 401 Smartphone, sporting a screen size of 4 inches with free bundled data.

According to Vsevolod Rozanov, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd, "The recent regulatory and tax developments have significantly impacted the growth of the Indian Telecom Industry. Despite these challenges, SSTL has maintained its scale of operations and has also grown its business by further strengthening all its revenue lines. Our data card subscriber base continues to grow in double digits despite the recent tariff reduction by 3G operators. Going forward, the plan includes to continue our focus on driving operational efficiencies and to provide greater value to all our stakeholders."