Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd. (SSTL), which operates its telecom services under the MTS brand in India, today announces its unaudited consolidated financial results for the second quarter ended June 30th, 2015.
According to Dmitry Shukov, Chief Executive Officer of Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd, “All our operational parameters have shown significant improvement during the quarter which has resulted in 12% growth in consolidated revenues. Our data centric approach has further enhanced the contribution of our non -voice revenues, which now stand at over 55% of our quarterly revenues, the highest in the industry. Dmitry further added, “Though the government has recently issued spectrum sharing guidelines, however for mobile operators to take a composite view one needs to look at the to be released spectrum trading guidelines, which are very much needed to act as a catalyst in the consolidation of the industry.”
Key Financial & Operational Highlights for the Second Quarter 2015
- Consolidated revenues increased by 12% Y-o-Y to INR 3,745 million (USD 59.26 million), mainly on account of data revenue growth.
- Blended mobile ARPU for the quarter increased by 5% to INR 134 (USD 2.1) on account of increase in data usage.
- Non-Voice revenues continued to demonstrate double-digit growth and increased by 13.4% during the quarter. The Company’s data card subscriber base for the quarter was up 8.9% to 1.95 million subscribers.
- Success of SSTL’s data strategy is evident with non-voice revenues now contributing 55.3% of total quarterly revenues, the highest in the industry. The contribution of Non-voice revenues increased by 424bps during the quarter.
- SSTL’s HSD services now cover over 1,000 towns across nine circles.
- Consolidated OIBDA loss for the quarter stands at INR 541 million (USD 8.6 million). SSTL is now OIBDA positive in six out of its nine operating circles.
- The six OIBDA positive circles are Delhi, Kolkata, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Revenue in Q2 2015 increased by 12% year-on-year to INR 3,745 million, the improvement is driven largely by increase in data revenues.
In the reporting period, SSTL’s mobile subscriber base slightly declined quarter-on-quarter and reached 8.7 million customers as of June 30th, 2015. Non-voice revenues, from both data and mobile VAS, for the quarter increased by 13.4% to INR 2,072 million.
SSTL reported an OIBDA loss of INR 541 million for Q2 2015, OIBDA loss reduced by 58% Q-o-Q on account of increase in data revenues, optimization of sales and marketing expenditure and reduction in interconnect charges during the quarter.
Financial Summary:
| INR Million | Q2-2015 | Q2-2014 | Y-o-Y | Q1-2015 | Q-o-Q |
| Revenue | 3,745 | 3,348 | 12% | 3,578 | 5% |
| OIBDA | -541 | -1,365 | 60% | -1,297 | 58% |
| Margins | -14% | -41% | 26p.p. | -36% | 22p.p. |
| Net Income | -4,004 | -4,025 | 1% | -3,910 | -2.4% |
| margins | -107% | -120% | 13p.p. | -109% | 2p.p. |
SSTL’s net loss during the quarter increased slightly by 2.4% (Q-o-Q). In Q2’15 the net loss increased mainly due to forex losses. SSTL made investments of INR 335 million (USD 5.3 million) during Q2 2015. Debt from banks and financial institutions at the end of 30th June 2015 stands at INR 43.12 billion.
Sergey Savchenko, Chief Financial Officer of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd., commented, “It is significant to note that, the OIBDA loss during the quarter has narrowed down on account of optimization of sales & marketing expenditure, increase in data revenues and reduction in interconnect charge. Going forward, we expect continuous improvement in OIBDA margins.”
