Mail.ru boosts Q3 revenue 59% to $124.9 mln, affirms 50% FY growth forecast
MOSCOW. Oct 25 (Interfax) - Mail.ru Group boosted sales revenue 59.1% year-on-year in Q3 2011 to $124.9 million, the Russian Internet company said.
Revenue grew 51.3% ex-currency.
Revenue from banner advertising and additional internet services made the biggest contributions to the revenue growth, rising 56.1% and 110.6%, respectively.
Revenue was roughly in line with the $123.5 million that analysts predicted in a consensus forecast for Interfax.
The Mail.ru portal had 27.8 million users in Russia in September.
Mail.ru Group also unveiled audited results for H1 2011, according to which sales revenue was $228.2 million (as originally stated), net profit - $85.9 million ($85.6 million), EBITDA - $116.5 million ($115.2 million) and the EBITDA margin - 51.1% (50.5%).
Mail.ru Group affirmed its forecast for 50% growth in revenue in 2011 as a whole, "notwithstanding a slightly more challenging forecasting environment and a weaker ruble exchange rate."
It said its EBITDA margin would be in the "high forties" at between 47.5% and 50%.
Mail.ru Group owns 100% of the Mail.ru Internet r resource, instant messaging service ICQ and social networking site Odnoklassniki; 39.9% of the Vkontakte (InContact) social networking site; 21.35% of the Qiwi service payment system, 2.33% of Facebook, 1.41% of the game-producer Zynga, 4.63% of the Groupon discount service; and 97.2% of employee recruitment portal HeadHunter.ru.
Mail.ru Group said on October 25 that it had increased its stake in HeadHunter Group Limited to 97.2% after buying up 5.89% of the company's shares for 432,867 or 0.46% of its own shares.
The stake used as currency to buy the 5.89% of HeadHunter from its minority shareholder has a market value of $14.45 million.
Mail.ru Group raised $1 billion on the London Stock Exchange this time last year, floating towards the top of the price range at $27.7 per share. Its main shareholders are firms controlled by Alisher Usmanov, South African media holding Naspers and China's Tencent with 81.14% voting shares or 60.34% issued shares between them.