Rostelecom boosts revenue 4.6% to 84.1 bln rubles in Q4
MOSCOW. March 6 (Interfax) - Rostelecom increased revenue to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 4.6% year-on-year in Q4 2017 to 84.113 billion rubles, the company said.
This is higher than the consensus forecast: analysts at investment banks had forecast revenue growth of 1.6%.
Rostelecom increased net profit 16.3% to 4.169 billion rubles. OIBDA rose 5.4% year-on-year to 25.694 billion rubles and OIBDA margin increased to 30.5% from 30.3% the previous year.
The company increased capex 23% to 18.5 billion rubles in Q4.
The number of broadband subscribers grew 3% to 12.7 million and pay-TV subscribers were up 5% to 9.8 million households. The number of local landline subscribers decreased 8% to 19.1 million. The company loses around 9 billion rubles a year in revenue due to the stagnation of the landline market.
The operator increased revenue 2.7% to 305.329 billion rubles in 2017, also beating market forecasts and that of the company itself, having estimated growth of 1.5%. OIBDA rose 0.1% to 96.9 billion rubles in 2017 and OIBDA margin fell to 31.7% from 32.5%. Net profit was up 15% to 14.05 billion rubles.
Capex was down 2% over the year to 60.752 billion rubles.
Net debt totaled 181.594 billion rubles at the end of the year compared to 177.481 billion rubles at the end of 2016. The net debt/OIBDA ratio was 1.9x.
Free cash flow rose 53% in 2017, totaling 20.385 billion rubles by the end of the year.