Astelit
Astelit, in which we hold a 55% stake through Euroasia, has operated in Ukraine since February 2005 under the brand “life
”.
�� Astelit grew its revenue by 34.5% in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to the same quarter of 2007 and by 71.4% in 2008.
�� Astelit recorded a positive EBITDA of US$15.3 million during the fourth quarter of 2008 and completed 2008 with a positive EBITDA of US$32.3 million, marking its first full year of profitability.
Astelit’s operational indicators have also remained very strong, with subscribers reaching 11.2 million with a market share of more than 20% and growth of 28.4% on an annual basis. In 2008:
3 month active subscriber base grew 31.5% on an annual basis and reached 63% of the total subscriber base.
3 month active ARPU increased by 17.3% on an annual basis.
Despite the negative effects of the depreciation of the Hrvnia against the USD, Astelit recorded encouraging financial and operational performance during the year, supporting its first full year of positive EBITDA.
Along with a worsening economic and political macro-environment in Ukraine, the Hrvinia depreciated around 52% against USD as of December 31, 2008 compared to December 31, 2007. Having observed that this unstable and challenging environment is continuing into 2009, we have cautiously reduced our capital expenditures in the fourth quarter of 2008. In 2008, we spent US$155 million in capital expenditures as opposed to our revised plan of US$250 million in the third quarter of the year.
In 2009, despite the severe macroeconomic challenges in the Ukrainian market, based on our growth projections, we expect to spend higher than 2008 capex. However, we intend to evaluate capex levels on ongoing basis, based on developing market conditions. Going forward, we expect operational expenses to increase particularly during Q1 2009 and therefore we may not have similar EBITDA margin trend in the same quarter compared to Q4 2008. In summary, our Ukrainian operation is challenged by economic conditions. However, our focus will continue to be improving operational profitability of the company.
Взято:
http://turkcell.com.tr/c/docs/announcements/announcements_2009_2502_Q4_2008_press_release.pdf