Comstar-UTS posts 9M 2010 net income of $153 million

Russian integrated telecommunications provider Constar-UTS has posted a 9M 2010 net income of $153 million, with a 3Q 2010 net income of $58.1 million.

The 9M adjusted net income attributable to Comstar-UTS shareholders was up 115% from the 9M 2009 net income of $71.3 million as 9M OIBDA rose 20% year on year to $513.9 million, on the back of a 14% rise in revenues to $1.228 billion.The company posted a 3Q adjusted net income attributable to Comstar-UTS shareholders was up 117% year on year to $58.1 million, with 3Q 2010 OIBDA up 12% year on year to $170.6 million, on the back of a 9% increase in revenues to $410.5 million.Comstar-UTS noted that its broadband subscriber base had grown 20% to 1.5 million, with domestic long distance and international long distance traffic volumes up 66% year on year.President and CEO, Sergey Pridantsev, highlighted the repayment of Sberbank debt.“We remain focused on the execution of our strategy and successfully completed the restructuring of our ownership in Svyazinvest during the third quarter by selling our stake to Rostelecom. The cash proceeds of the sale were used to repay our debt to Sberbank and we are now in a net cash position.”Pridantsev added that that the Comstar-UTS market presence would be increased, following the rise in broadband subscribers. “Overall, our total number of broadband internet subscribers in Russia grew by 20% year on year in the third quarter. Our broadband subscriber base in the Russian regions grew by 51% year on year to 519,000, whilst our broadband subscriber base in the mature Moscow market grew by 7% to 872 thousand subscribers, following a 48% year on year increase in the number of mass market subscribers. In addition, one third of all MGTS subscribers in Moscow are now utilising our DLD/ILD services. The modernization of MGTS’ network in Moscow is ongoing and 310,000 numbers will have been digitalised by the end of the year. Our goal remains to complete the digitalisation of the network by the end of 2013. We have also continued to modernise our regional networks, in order to enable us to offer broadband services to our pay- TV subscribers, and to review opportunities to further expand our market presence.”