Let's look at the disclosure rate further," Eldar Murtazin told a ComNews journalist.
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 4:17 am
Managing partner of TMT Consulting Konstantin Ankilov noted that CLTV is an additional indicator characterizing the operator’s activity; it is not intended to replace other indicators.
"Both VimpelCom and other companies have been saying for years that operators can "manage" the size of their subscriber base to a certain extent. The general market belgium whatsapp number database problem of an "inflated" subscriber base really needs to be solved long ago. Of course, we would like to see the number of subscribers in any case, albeit with reservations," commented Konstantin Ankilov.
He also said that the key indicator was and remains revenue: total, service, in key areas. "These and other financial indicators - profit, marginality, investments - most objectively characterize the company's activities," he specified.
In Q4 2021, Beeline had 49.4 million mobile subscribers, at the end of 2022 the total base was 44.8 million, and in Q3 2023 the number of subscribers decreased to 44.1 million people.
"In its reporting materials, Beeline does not particularly focus on the size of its subscriber base, which, in all likelihood, continued to decline in 2023," said Artem Mikhailin.
Beeline's revenue in Q4 2023 increased by 9.5% to RUB 81.8 billion. This was the group's first reporting period after leaving the holding company VEON, which controls telecommunications assets in the CIS and a number of Asian and African countries. The company's capital expenditures increased by 4.7%, which increased the debt burden. Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov noted that the net debt/EBITDA ratio (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization - ComNews note ) increased to 2.6x by the end of the year, which is a comfortable debt burden, given that the average cost of a loan is estimated at only 9.99% per annum, with the key refinancing rate of the Russian Central Bank at 16% per annum.
Vladimir Chernov also noted the growth of EBITDA in the artificial intelligence services segment by 22% year-on-year in 2023, which, in his opinion, will become a new growth point for the company's financial performance.
Artem Mikhaylin, an analyst at VELES Capital, reported that, on the one hand, the company's business is developing and demonstrating growth in key financial metrics, while on the other hand, Beeline's revenue growth rate turned out to be the slowest of the "big four", according to reporting data and estimates (in the case of MTS, since the company has not yet submitted its reporting). "Perhaps this is due to the fact that the operator focused on the marginality of the business, due to which it was possible to achieve a higher EBITDA profitability compared to 2022," Artem Mikhaylin suggested.
The intensity of capital expenditures has decreased slightly compared to 2022, but remains high: more than 20% of revenue. Beeline noted that the cycle of high investments to update infrastructure is gradually coming to an end.
"The debt burden was at a fairly high level of 2.6x ND/EBITDA, but this is not a critical level that could threaten financial stability," says Artem Mikhailin.
The key event of 2023 for Beeline was that VimpelCom became a fully Russian company after acquiring over 96% of all VEON Group bonds in Russia (including over 99.6% of all VEON Group bonds recorded in the National Settlement Depository). This allowed a number of restrictions on the company's business and operations to be lifted.
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"Both VimpelCom and other companies have been saying for years that operators can "manage" the size of their subscriber base to a certain extent. The general market belgium whatsapp number database problem of an "inflated" subscriber base really needs to be solved long ago. Of course, we would like to see the number of subscribers in any case, albeit with reservations," commented Konstantin Ankilov.
He also said that the key indicator was and remains revenue: total, service, in key areas. "These and other financial indicators - profit, marginality, investments - most objectively characterize the company's activities," he specified.
In Q4 2021, Beeline had 49.4 million mobile subscribers, at the end of 2022 the total base was 44.8 million, and in Q3 2023 the number of subscribers decreased to 44.1 million people.
"In its reporting materials, Beeline does not particularly focus on the size of its subscriber base, which, in all likelihood, continued to decline in 2023," said Artem Mikhailin.
Beeline's revenue in Q4 2023 increased by 9.5% to RUB 81.8 billion. This was the group's first reporting period after leaving the holding company VEON, which controls telecommunications assets in the CIS and a number of Asian and African countries. The company's capital expenditures increased by 4.7%, which increased the debt burden. Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov noted that the net debt/EBITDA ratio (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization - ComNews note ) increased to 2.6x by the end of the year, which is a comfortable debt burden, given that the average cost of a loan is estimated at only 9.99% per annum, with the key refinancing rate of the Russian Central Bank at 16% per annum.
Vladimir Chernov also noted the growth of EBITDA in the artificial intelligence services segment by 22% year-on-year in 2023, which, in his opinion, will become a new growth point for the company's financial performance.
Artem Mikhaylin, an analyst at VELES Capital, reported that, on the one hand, the company's business is developing and demonstrating growth in key financial metrics, while on the other hand, Beeline's revenue growth rate turned out to be the slowest of the "big four", according to reporting data and estimates (in the case of MTS, since the company has not yet submitted its reporting). "Perhaps this is due to the fact that the operator focused on the marginality of the business, due to which it was possible to achieve a higher EBITDA profitability compared to 2022," Artem Mikhaylin suggested.
The intensity of capital expenditures has decreased slightly compared to 2022, but remains high: more than 20% of revenue. Beeline noted that the cycle of high investments to update infrastructure is gradually coming to an end.
"The debt burden was at a fairly high level of 2.6x ND/EBITDA, but this is not a critical level that could threaten financial stability," says Artem Mikhailin.
The key event of 2023 for Beeline was that VimpelCom became a fully Russian company after acquiring over 96% of all VEON Group bonds in Russia (including over 99.6% of all VEON Group bonds recorded in the National Settlement Depository). This allowed a number of restrictions on the company's business and operations to be lifted.
Read also