Megafon posts FY 2008 Net Profit of 44.3 billion Roubles

Russian mobile operator Megafon has posted a FY 2008 Net Profit of 44.3 billion Roubles ($1.4 billion) under U.S. GAAP.

The full year result was up 30.5% on 2007, with FY 2008 EBITDA rising 22% to 88.1 billion Roubles ($2.6 billion), on the back of Revenues of 174.45 billion Roubles ($5.2 billion), up 24.9%. Also released were results for the 4th Quarter of 2008 showing a Net profit of 12.63 billion Roubles, with 4Q EBITDA of 24.6 billion Roubles, on 4Q Revenues of 48.4 billion Roubles.

CEO Sergei Soldatenkov attributed the result to careful financial management in the face of the economic downturn which unfolded in Russia late in the year.

"We carefully managed our cost structure in response to slowing economic growth, which gave us the opportunity to achieve a high EBITDA result for the year and also demonstrate net profit growth of more than 30% for the year,"