IR Blog

Today we are issuing a report on mobile retail in Russia during Q2 2010, based on the estimates from our mobile retail network. You can download it here.

Highlights from the report:
- During the first half of 2010, the number of phones sold in Russia is set to increase by around 24% compared to the same period of 2009
- At the end of the first half of 2010, mobile handset market in Russia is expected to reach 63.9 bln rubles in sales
- The average price of mobile phones on the market during Q2 2010 was 4,303 rubles, approximately 74% of devices sold through our stores were below 5,000 rubles
- The market share of MTS retail network grew to 13.9% in Q2 2010, an increase of 6.9 percentage points compared with the second quarter of 2009 (in unit sales)
- MTS-branded handset MTS 236 was the most popular device sold through the MTS retail network, accounting for 13.2% of total units sold

Please download the compete report here:

 Mobile retail report Q2 2010

One of our major initiatives in 2009 was the rapid expansion of our mobile retail network and distribution of devices through it. As we have indicated in our Q4 and FY 2009 results presentation, we have sold over 2 million handsets through our network during 2009, gaining a market share of 11.7% by the end of the year (from just over 2% in Q1 2009).

Today we are issuing a report on mobile retail in Russia during Q1 2010, based on the estimates from our mobile retail network. You can download it here.

We have set the tentative date for our Q4 and FY 2009 financial results on April 1, 2010. We will confirm the date closer to the event.

You can view the latest information on our upcoming events here.

Earlier this week MTS became the only Russian telecommunications company to obtain the ISO 9001:2008 certificate of conformity for its Quality Management System that covers all of our locations in Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The certification audit was conducted by SGS, the global leader in inspection, verification, testing and certification services.

 From left to right: Alexander Gamov – Director of the Quality Assurance Department at MTS, Peter Marriott – Vice-President of SGS SA, Konstantin Timoshechkin – Manager in charge of business development at SGS S.A. (Eastern Europe).

On Thursday, November 19, 2009, Dr. Michael Hecker gave an interview on Sky News. In the clip below, Dr. Hecker shares his thoughts on the current trends in the telecommunications industry including our recent acquisition of a controlling stake of Comstar-UTS by MTS.

Please watch below the video presenting our 3i strategy. We have shot this video over the last few months across various locations of MTS, including our retail stores, call centers and technical facilities. The video also includes interviews with the management of MTS: Mikhail Shamolin, President and CEO of the Company; Michael Hecker, Vice President for Strategy and Corporate Development; and Mikhail Gerchuk, Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer.



Below we have also posted a longer version of the video that includes in-depth interviews and more details about some of our recent initiatives, including the launch of Omlet.ru content portal.

On November 13, we disclosed our financial results for the third quarter 2009. As always, we posted a wealth of information about the results on our website – the press release, the presentation and the Excel spreadsheet with summary financial information for 2004-2009. 

As was stated during the conference call, we had a good quarter with revenues for the Group growing 12% q-on-q to nearly $2.3 billion on the back of healthy subscriber additions, a seasonal increase in usage, rising data consumption and a growing contribution from our retail sales. The Group’s OIBDA increased 11% q-on-q to $1.1 billion with an overall margin of 46.9%. Less the effect of our retail investments, the margin improved from Q2 2009 to 50.7%.

Though we continue to see an impact from macroeconomic uncertainty, we realized growth q-on-q in our Russian operations of 10% to 56 billion rubles. In addition to the seasonal dynamics of our business, we are succeeding in driving our active subscriber base and realizing 50% year-over-year growth in both data content and traffic revenues. We also witnessed a greater contribution from handset sales, which exceeded 3.2 billion rubles or 5.7% of revenue.

On August 11, we disclosed our financial results for the second quarter 2009. As always, we posted a lot of information about the results on our website – the press release, the presentation and the Excel spreadsheet with summary financial information for 2004-2009. In the presentation, we have included detailed slides about our future strategic priorities, logic behind the intent to acquire a controlling stake in COMSTAR-UTS (see the original press release), as well as more insight into our retail development and handset distribution in Russia.

On the conference call, we have commented that there was a general improvement in our operating environment in Q2, aided by seasonal and organic growth factors. The Group recorded 12% q-o-q revenue growth to over $2.0 billion US dollars, driven by 2.8 million new subscribers and a seasonal improvement in usage.

Russia Today, the leading English-speaking TV channel based in Russia, has reported on our Q2 results and the intent to acquire a controlling stake in COMSTAR-UTS.

You can check out the video on their website, featuring an interview with our President and CEO, Mikhail Shamolin.

On May 22, 2009, we have disclosed financial results for the first quarter of 2009. A wealth of information about the results is available on our website – the press release, the presentation and the excel spreadsheet with summary financial information for 2004-2009. Of particular interest, we suggest reviewing the slides in the presentation on the decomposition of our revenue dynamics in Russia and OIBDA margin dynamics for the Group, as well as MTS Russia retail development.