5 Aug 2009 19:31

Rostelecom sees H1 earnings tumble 53% to 2.4 bln rubles

MOSCOW. Aug 5 (Interfax) - Rostelecom saw net profit under Russian accounting standards (RAS) fall 52.6% to 2.36 billion rubles in the first half of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008, the company said in a statement.

Sales revenue edged down 0.1% to 30.547 billion rubles in the half.

The company increased expenditures 11.1% to 26.976 billion rubles in the period. OIBDA (operating income before depreciation and amortization) declined almost 33.3% to 5.78 billion rubles, while the OIBDA margin fell to 18.9% from 27.6%. Pre-tax profit fell by more than 50% to 2.996 billion rubles.

Rostelecom handled 4.758 billion minutes of long-distance traffic in the half, down 5% from January-June 2008. Sales revenue from long-distance services decreased 10.2% to 13.255 billion rubles.

Incoming international traffic fell 7.9% to 862.7 million minutes, while revenue from this segment declined 3.6% to 5.63 billion rubles.

Incoming traffic from international operators fell 3.5%, while the transit of traffic from international operators grew 66.4%. Total traffic from international operators rose 12% to 1.728 billion minutes. Revenue from the termination and transit of incoming international traffic rose 21.6% to 3.363 billion rubles.

Rostelecom boosted sales revenue from other services by 15% to 8.29 billion rubles in the half. Revenue from innovative services, including data transmission as well as telematic and intellectual network services, grew 70% to 3.062 billion rubles. Revenue from data transmission and telematic services increased 120% to 2.539 billion rubles.