VimpelCom Higher On Q3 Beat Driven by Russian Growth

ADRs of Vimpel-Communications, Russia's second-largest wireless carrier, are trading to the upside by 2.75% to $36.99 in the pre-market, following its report of a 71% increase in third-quarter net income to $458.1 million, or the equivalent of $0.45 per U.S.-listed share, beating analyst estimates of $0.41/share. Revenues rose 44% to $1.96B, coming in slightly ahead of estimates. This marks VimpelCom's ninth-consecutive quarter of profit growth, reflected in the doubling of its shares this year. VimpelCom reported a 16.4% y/y increase in subscribers to nearly 61 million in total. Average revenue per customer in Russia climbed 26% to $13.40, as average monthly calling minutes used jumped 30% to almost 209 minutes. However, VimpelCom suffered declines in average revenue per customer in Kazakhstan (-5.6% to $13.60) and in Ukraine (-13.4% to $5.80). CEO Alexander Izosimov said he was "pleased" with the company's progress and believes "... the increasing usage in Russia and expanding subscriber base in the CIS countries will continue to keep our business growing robustly." VimpelCom's ADRs gained 4.35% to $36.00 on Wednesday.

Sources: Press release, Bloomberg, MarketWatch
Commentary: Six Ways to Invest in the Ukraine • Three Emerging International Telecoms • Why Did Bear Stearns Downgrade Vimpelcom?
Stocks to watch: VIP. Competitors: ROS, GLDN, MBT. ETFs: WMH

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