Mobile communications operator lifecell in 2019 saw UAH 1.114 billion of net loss, which was 14.4% less than in 2018 (UAH 1.3 billion), according to financial statements of the company. The operator’s revenue grew by 13.6%, to UAH 5.984 billion.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 17.4%, to UAH 3.243 billion, and EBITDA margin grew by 1.8 percentage points (pp), to 54.2%.
“In 2019, lifecell achieved positive dynamics in all key indicators, such as the subscriber base and revenue, Internet traffic consumption and the number of LTE users. Our company continues leading in the penetration of smartphones in the network – 80% in the fourth quarter of 2019,” Chief Executive Officer of lifecell Ismet Yazici said.
The operator’s capital investments in 2019 decreased 75.6%, to UAH 1.895 billion.
The active subscriber base of the company over the past year expanded by 1.4% to 7.4 million customers, the total number of subscribers in the operator’s network decreased 10.1%, to 8.9 million subscribers. At the same time, the average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 26.2%, to UAH 54, while the ARPU of the active subscriber base grew by 25.3%, to UAH 71.80.
The number of voice minutes per month used by a subscriber in 2019 increased 2.8%, to 149 minutes.
In the fourth quarter of 2019, operator’s revenue grew by 9.9%, to UAH 1.56 billion (versus UAH 1.42 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018). This growth in the company is explained by an increase in profits from the use of mobile Internet thanks to the constantly growing consumption of traffic in the network.
“The share of the company’s revenue generated by digital services and lifecell products in 2019 is 10%. Moreover, compared with 2018, the income from digital services of the company grew by 32%,” lifecell said.
In the fourth quarter of 2019, the operator’s EBITDA decreased 24.4% year-over-year, to UAH 0.819 billion, EBIDTA margin fell by 24.0 pp, to 52.5%.
“Also in the fourth quarter, lifecell began to capitalize on the cost of using radio frequencies in accordance with IFRS16, and the overall impact, including retrospective adjustments for the previous quarters of 2018, was reflected in the fourth quarter of 2018,” the company said in the report.
In 2020, lifecell plans to invest in the deployment of its LTE network.
Capital investments in Ukraine in 2019 increased by 15.5%, while in 2018 their growth was 16.4%, and a year earlier some 22.1%, the State Statistics Service has said.
At the same time, according to the State Statistics Service, from the middle of last year the growth of capital investments began to accelerate: 17.8% in the first quarter, 7.5% in the second quarter, 12.7% in the third quarter, and 21.2% in the fourth quarter.
In 2018, the trend was reversed as growth slowed during the year: 37.4% in the first quarter, 18.4% in the second quarter, 9.9% in the third quarter and a slight acceleration in the fourth quarter to 10.5%.
The service said that over the past year, UAH 584.4 billion of capital investments were used (excluding the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea, Sevastopol and the Joint Forces Operation area).
In the regional context, the largest increase in capital investments in 2019 was recorded in Volyn (by 74.2%), Kherson (by 66.1%), Mykolaiv (by 40.1%), Poltava (by 39.7%), and Kyiv regions (33.4%).
According to statistics, capital investments last year decreased in Khmelnytsky (by 5.8%), Rivne (by 5.4%), Odesa (by 1.7%), and Chernihiv (by 1.6%) regions.
The volume of container transportation by Viking combined transport train in January 2020 increased 21% compared with January 2019, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine has said in a statement. Ukraine and Lithuania are organizing container transportation by the Lithuania-Belarus-Ukraine Containerships train.
“Today, cooperation between Ukraine and Lithuania in the field of transport infrastructure is developing in an upward direction, including in the field of international freight transportation by rail. The Viking train and the Containerships Train are important international logistics projects, the successful implementation of which opens up prospects for attracting additional freight flows for both countries,” Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladyslav Krykliy said during a meeting in Poland at Europe of the Carpathians International Conference held on February 21-22.
The ministry said that Lithuania is a strategically important partner of Ukraine for updating the national infrastructure and realizing the transit potential in the Black Sea-Baltic Sea traffic.
Minister of Transport and Communications of Lithuania Jaroslav Narkevič, in turn, noted the importance of further successful cooperation in the field of transport infrastructure for Ukrainian-Lithuanian economic relations and reiterated the desire to develop and deepen bilateral relations.
In addition, the ministers of both countries discussed the state and prospects of development of Ukrainian-Lithuanian cooperation in the field of infrastructure and joint participation in international logistics projects.
“The parties are determined in every way to help remove barriers in international road transport. At the first stage, the issue of exchanging multiple transit permission is being worked out,” the Ukrainian ministry said in the statement.
The Viking combined transport train route passes through Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania and connects the chain of container and piggyback lines in the Baltic region with a similar system of the Black, Mediterranean and Caspian Seas. The total length of its route is 1,753 km.
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of February 24
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 24/02/20
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Ukrainian women’s biathlon team consisting of Anastasia Merkushyna, Yulia Dzhyma, Vita Semerenko and Olena Pidhrushna has won the bronze medal in the relay race (4×6 km) at the World Championship in Italian Antholz-Anterselva. Ukrainians’ good shooting and the rivals’ mistakes allowed Pidhrushna in the fourth stage to leave the shooting range to the last lap of the second, noticeably behind the Norwegians following the third relay gold in this Championship and slightly ahead of rivals from several other teams.
A representative of the German national team beat Pidhrushna before the finish. At the same time, the Ukrainian woman did not let the next athletes from the Czech Republic and Sweden go.
This is the first medal of Ukrainian athletes in this championship.
The Norwegian team won gold, and Germany took the second place.
The relay race among men will also take place on Saturday, and the World Championship is to end on Sunday with mass starts.
