Vodafone Ukraine (PrJSC VF Ukraine) in 2019 saw a 45% rise in net profit compared with 2018, to UAH 2.54 billion, explaining the figure by growth in expenses on active development of 4G and 3G networks.
Vodafone Ukraine CEO Olha Ustinova said that the company’s income last year grew by 25%, to UAH 15.98 billion and Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) rose by 21% year-over-year, reaching UAH 8.3 billion.
Vodafone Ukraine CFO Natalia Shevchenko said that in 2019, the operator doubled the number of 4G towers to 7,200. On average, the Vodafone data client uses almost 5 GB of traffic per month.
In general, the company’s investment in infrastructure development since the start of construction of high-speed mobile Internet networks amounted to UAH 25.4 billion.
According to information released during the presentation, as of December 31, 2019, the Vodafone chain in Ukraine included 629 mono-brand stores, of which 249 are own and 380 are dealerships. Sales revenue in 2019 amounted to $17.7 million, which is 4.6 times more than in 2018.
In 2019, the number of Vodafone customers in the country amounted to 19.7 million. The operator’s 4G network covers 69% of the country’s territory, which is 1.5 times more than the previous indicator for 2018.
According to the results of 2018, Vodafone Ukraine, the second largest mobile operator in Ukraine, reduced its net profit by 18.1% compared to 2017, to UAH 1.777 billion with an 8% increase in revenue, to UAH 12.8 billion. The company explains this figure as an increase in expenses due to the active deployment of 4G and 3G networks.
Ookla (the United States), the developer of Speedtest service, has said that Kyivstar mobile communication operator is Ukraine’s Speedtest Awards Winner for mobile network speed, according to the Ookla Speedtest report posted on the Speedtest website.
According to the report, in 2019, the company made over 3.15 million test counts for subscribers of all mobile operators. In particular, the total number of test counts in the Kyivstar network was 1.53 million with average download speed of 22.02 Mbps (17.94 Mbps in 2018) and average upload speed of 12.88 Mbps (8.99 Mbps).
Some 0.973 million test counts were made in the Vodafone Ukraine network with average download speed of 19.37 Mbps and average upload speed of 11.16 Mbps (14 Mbps and 6.63 Mbps in 2018), and in the lifecell network 0.583 million test counts were made with average download speed of 19.42 Mbps and average upload speed of 9.24 Mbps (16.64 Mbps and 6.69 Mbps).
According to Ookla, Kyivstar’s Speed Score was 20.31, lifcell’s – 17.77 and Vodafone Ukraine’s – 17.93. Speed Score incorporates a measure of each provider’s download and upload speed to rank network speed performance.
A total of 566,300 unique devices launched the Speedtest application in Ukraine, including iPhone 7 (27,600 test counts), Redmi Note 5 Pro (25,700 test counts), Redmi Note 4 (20,700 test counts), iPhone 6s (20,500 test counts), and iPhone X (18,100 test counts).
At the same time, in Kharkiv, according to Ookla, the speed of mobile Internet is on average higher than in Kyiv. So, Kyivstar’s Speed Score in this city was 25.08, while in Kyiv it was 19.79. Speed Score of lifecell in Kharkiv was 22.17, and in Kyiv was 18.06.
At the same time, the Speed Score of Vodafone Ukraine in Kharkiv was 16.87, while in Kyiv it was 18.88.
The shareholders of PrJSC VF Ukraine (provides mobile services under the Vodafone-Ukraine brand) on January 20 decided to provide prior consent to raising funds of up to $1 billion, but the company plans to gradually raise up to $500 million from external sources for the implementation of the development strategy, the operator’s press service has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“At the moment, the company is considering its development strategy. In the near future, we are considering options for phased attraction of external financing in the range of $500 million,” Viktoria Ruban, the head of the public relations department of Vodafone-Ukraine, said.
According to her, attracting external financing on favorable terms is consistent with the company’s development strategy and is a common practice in business.
According to a company report in the information disclosure system of the National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market, the company was allowed to sign loan agreements, agreements on commissions, orders from other transactions related to raising funds. The limit amount of such transactions is $1 billion (or UAH 24.253 billion at the NBU rate as of January 20, 2020).
The value of the company’s assets as of 2018 stood at UAH 21.479 billion.
The ratio of the marginal aggregate of transaction value to the value of the issuer’s assets according to the latest annual financial statements is 112.91%.
The Vodafone Ukraine mobile communications in April-June 2019 saw UAH 3.8 billion in revenue, which is 20.7% more than a year ago.
According to the financial report of the operator, its net profit for the period remained at the level of 2018 and amounted to UAH 511 million.
Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization (OIBDA) increased 13.8% and reached UAH 2 billion, OIBDA margin amounted to 51.7% (54.9% in the second quarter of 2018).
“The main reason for Vodafone’s revenue growth was the increase in the number of data users and the consumption of data services. The traffic volumes are growing due to the activity of 4G users: for example, the 4G client Vodafone used 7.7 gigabytes of traffic per month on average. This is twice as much than 3G clients use. The total volume of Internet traffic in the Vodafone network has doubled over the year,” the operator said in the report.
At the same time, the company said that according to the results of April-June, Vodafone Ukraine had the lowest ARPU (average revenue per user per month) in the market – UAH 61.
Income from trading activities in the second quarter increased thanks to the expansion of own retail. “Today Vodafone Retail is one of the largest retailers in the country. The company’s trading network today has about 240 own stores. Vodafone stores offer only certified products: smartphones, various gadgets, wearable electronics, routers, accessories. You can also connect any Vodafone services in the stores and get qualified advice from the company’s experts,” the company said in the press release devoted to the financial statements of the company.
In addition, according to the results of April-June, the number of Ukrainian settlements covered by 4G increased four times. Today, Vodafone network is available to 62% of Ukrainians and covers more than 4,000 settlements.
According to the results of the second quarter, the number of Vodafone Ukraine customers amounted to 19.6 million, while according to the results of the second quarter of last year, the operator had 20.3 million customers in Ukraine.
“Among the growth factors, launch of mobile number portability service in Ukraine can be noted. In May-June, 3,657 customers used the service to go to the Vodafone network with their number,” the company said.
Ookla (the United States), the developer of Speedtest service, has said that Kyivstar mobile communication operator is Ukraine’s Speedtest Awards Winner for mobile network speed, according to the Ookla Speedtest report posted on the Speedtest website.
According to the report, in 2018, the company made over 4.73 million test counts for subscribers of all mobile operators. In particular, the total number of test counts in the Kyivstar network was 2.2 million with average download speed of 17.94 Mbps and average upload speed of 8.99 Mbps.
Some 1.43 million test counts were made in the Vodafone Ukraine network with average download speed of 14 Mbps and average upload speed of 6.63 Mbps, and in the lifecell network 1.1 million test counts were made with average download speed of 16.64 Mbps and average upload speed of 6.69 Mbps.
According to Ookla, Kyivstar’s Speed Score was 16.32, lifcell’s – 15.10 and Vodafone Ukraine’s – 12.74. Speed Score incorporates a measure of each provider’s download and upload speed to rank network speed performance.
A total of 632,300 unique devices launched the Speedtest application in Ukraine, including Redmi Note 4 (33,100 test counts), iPhone 7 (27,000 test counts), Redmi 4X (25,300 test counts), iPhone 6s (24,600 test counts), and iPhone 6 (18,800 test counts).
According to the Ookla report, in February 2019, Speed Score for mobile networks in Ukraine was 17.10, and the country ranked 93rd among 137 countries in the Speedtest rating (51st among 177 countries in terms of fixed-line Internet speed).
Vodafone Ukraine sees net profit fall by 24.4%
KYIV. Nov 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Vodafone Ukraine in July-September 2018 received a net profit of UAH 393 million, which is 24.4% less than the figure for July-September 2017.
According to a press release from the Ukrainian operator, the reduction in net profit is due to the increase in depreciation costs due to the active deployment of 4G and 3G networks.
The company’s revenue for the third quarter increased by 6.5%, to UAH 3.3 billion.
Vodafone Ukraine said OIBDA in the third quarter of this year increased by 49.4% compared to the same period last year, to UAH 1.8 billion, and the OIBDA margin rose by 13.9 percentage points, to 54.9%.
The subscriber base of Vodafone Ukraine in the reporting period decreased by 4.3%, to 19.9 million subscribers.
The company added that at the end of September 2018, the number of 4G users increased by 75.3%, without specifying the absolute figure, while the 4G network covers almost 40% of the country’s population.
According to the press release, investment in the network infrastructure amounted to more than UAH 1 billion for the reporting period and UAH 20 billion since the start of construction of high-speed mobile Internet networks.
