Rostelecom, Russia’s national telecommunications operator, posted Q2 revenue of RUB 77.365 billion, up 3% from a year earlier. The company cites pay-TV and fiber broadband services as key drivers as it invests in enterprise cloud services, data centers and cybersecurity services.
In its quarterly report, Rostelcom also noted a positive marketing result from its role as regional sponsor to World Cup 2018.
Some key Rostelcom metrics:
- The total number of Internet subscribers grew by 2% to 13.0 million in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the corresponding period of last year;
- The B2C subscriber base grew by 1% to 12.0 million, whilst the number of subscribers connected by fibre optic increased by 6% year-on-year to 7.9 million (66% of the subscriber base);
- The number of pay-TV subscribers grew by 5% to 10.0 million households compared to the corresponding period of last year;
- The number of IPTV subscribers increased by 11% to 5.1 million;
- The number of MVNO subscriber base reached 1 million users, a more than two-fold increase within 1 year;
- The number of local telephony subscribers decreased by 8% to 18.3 million.
- CAPEX decreased by 2% year-on-year to RUB 29.6 billion (19.3% of revenue) from RUB 30.2 billion (20.7% of revenue) in the first half of 2017
- OIBDA increased by 1% year-on-year to RUB 46.9 billion compared to the first half of 2017;
- OIBDA margin of 30.5% compared to 31.7% in the first half of 2017;
- Net profit increased by 16% to RUB 7.0 billion compared to the first half of 2017.
Mikhail Oseevsky, President of Rostelecom, stated "The Q2 2018 results came in line with our expectations. Rostelecom has gained momentum: revenue has been growing at a solid average annual rate of 5% in the last 12 months. Our digital segment, which currently accounts for 53% of our top-line, has contributed significantly to this growth. Our growth engine is delivering and we are also increasing our competitive positions in the key pay-TV and broadband segments, thanks to a growing subscriber base and higher ARPU. This was achieved by promoting new services such as “Smart Home” video surveillance, where we saw the subscriber base grow three-fold in the reporting period. Higher demand for cloud services, data centers and information security solutions is also contributing to our top-line and is coming from corporate and government clients."
