VimpelCom Swings To Q1 Loss on Currency Changes

Russia's VimpleCom has reported a first-quarter net loss of RUB 8.5 billion (US$273 million) due to a RUB 23.6 billion (US$759 million) foreign exchange loss. Net operating revenues reached RUB 66.8 billion (US$2.15 billion), an increase of 30.7% versus 1Q08 and a decrease of 4.1% versus 4Q08.

The subscriber base increased by 1.7 million versus 4Q08, reaching 62.7 million.

Commenting on the performance of the Company, Boris Nemsic, Chief Executive Officer of VimpelCom, said, “During the first quarter of 2009 the economies of Russia and the CIS countries went through a period of intense macroeconomic turmoil with a significant decline in overall business confidence, rapid currency devaluations, a drop in industrial production and rising unemployment."

"The set of measures that we implemented at the beginning of the macroeconomic uncertainty has started to bear fruit. Integration synergies and a focus on cost-control, coupled with the usual seasonal effect, yielded a consolidated OIBDA margin of over 48%, a 5% increase in OIBDA quarter-on-quarter."

The company says that it has repaid US$530 million of debt, obtained additional financing commitments and accumulated US$966 million in cash

The firm has also switched to reporting in Russian Rubles to provide quarterly comparisons in the future that are not affected by US Dollar currency movements.

Posted to the site on 28th May 2009