Ukrtelecom's revenue up by 12.7%, EBITDA drops 15% in M9 2024

MOSCOW. Nov 6 (Interfax) - Ukrtelecom, Ukraine's largest fixed telecom company, saw its revenue rise 12.7% to UAH 3.6 billion in January-September 2024 year-on-year, as its EBITDA fell 15% to UAH 850 million over the reporting period, Ukrainian media said citing the company's statement.

Ukrtelecom's operational performance remains solid, the company said, posting its total revenue over the aforementioned period at around UAH 3.6 billion versus UAH 3.14 billion in January-September 2023.

Revenue from commercial leasing of real estate freed up as a result of the network upgrade grew by around a third (35%) to UAH 350 million year-on-year.

Ukrtelecom's EBITDA margin shrank by four percentage points to 24% in January-September 2024. Its net profit has not been disclosed. Ukrtelecom posted net profit of UAH 242.39 million in January-September 2023 versus net loss of UAH 755.18 million over the same period in 2022.

Ukrtelecom paid UAH 1 billion in taxes and duties in January-September 2024, same as over the same period last year. The company has paid UAH 3.8 billion to the budget since the start of the crisis.

Its capital expenditures stood at UAH 725 million in the reporting period.

Ukrtelecom continues to replace copper cables with fiber optics, investing in the FTTH/P network using the GPON technology, which ensures greater energy efficiency.

"The company has laid around 5,500 kilometers of fiber optic cables across Ukraine this year. In total, Ukrtelecom's optical network is some 90,000 kilometers long and serves 2.7 million Homepass users," it said.

The development of optical networking infrastructure has contributed to the increase in the number of fast-access Internet users, Ukrtelecom said.

The overall number of users of the company's fiber optic Internet services stood at 360,000 at the end of the third quarter of the year, driving 17.5% revenue growth in this segment in January-September 2024. Ukrtelecom's fiber optic Internet services are currently available to 1,306 healthcare establishments and 1,763 educational establishments across the country.

JSC Ukrtelecom is Ukraine's largest fixed telecom provider offering the whole range of telecom services in all of the country's regions.

Ukrtelecom has been part of the SCM investment group since 2013.