The Kyivstar mobile communications operator in January-March 2020 increased total operating revenue by 16.1% year-over-year, to UAH 5.95 billion, according to a report of the shareholder in the company, Veon international group, posted on its official website.
“The increase was primarily driven by mobile data, voice and fixed line revenue growth owing to continuous 4G roll out, increase traffic and pricing. In addition, the local currency also observed an improvement against the USD when compared with the same period last year,” Veon said.
According to Veon, in the first quarter, Kyivstar increased its EBITDA by 25.35% compared to the same period last year, to UAH 4.04 billion. EBITDA margin increased 5 percentage points (pp), to 67.9%.
Revenue from mobile services increased by 16.1%, to UAH 5.53 billion.
Veon reported that Kyivstar’s mobile Internet coverage reached 77%, while 4G mobile penetration in the operator’s network reached 30%.
ARPU of mobile communications grew to UAH 70.30, or 17.43%, the consumption of voice services (MoU) – by 3%, to 603 minutes.
Overall, Kyivstar’s mobile customer base decreased slightly by 1.2% to 26.0 million.
“The decrease was a result of demographic trends in Ukraine and the reduction in multi SIM users. The number of our mobile data customers in Ukraine increased by 10% year-on-year, mainly due to an increased 4G/ LTE user penetration,” Veon said in its report.
Fixed line revenue increased by 16.86%, to UAH 384 million, fixed broadband ARPU increased by 7.63% to UAH 81. Fixed broadband customer base grew by 9.99%, to 1 million customers.
Capex for the reporting period increased by 37.11% (excluding the cost of licenses for 4G communications) and amounted to UAH 1.347 billion.
Basically, the funds were used to roll out 4G networks and provide high quality services. The 4G network of Kyivstar, according to the operator, covers 11,000 settlements, and almost 79% of the population of Ukraine has access to new mobile technologies.
“We have significantly increased investments in communication quality and new technologies. The company also mobilized its resources to help the country overcome the coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic as soon as possible. We provided UAH 30 million in charity support for the purchase of medical equipment saving the lives of seriously ill patients. Another telecom services for UAH 30 million were provided to support quarantined subscribers,” Kyivstar President Alexander Komarov said, being quoted in a press release of the Ukrainian operator.
In the first quarter of 2020, changes occurred in Kyivstar’s corporate governance: the company attracted external independent advisers: Naftogaz Ukrainy Executive Board Chairman Andriy Kobolev, Board Chairman of the Darnitsa Group Dmytro Shimkiv and co-founder of the Diligent Capital Partners investment fund Dan Pasko to regular meetings of the supervisory board.
“The experience and expertise of independent advisers are intended to help the company better respond to the challenges of the industry and the needs of society,” Kyivstar said.
In January-March 2020, Kyivstar paid taxes and other payments to the budget of Ukraine totaling UAH 2.394 billion.
