MOSCOW, March 6 (RIA Novosti) - VimpelCom Ltd, which includes one of Russia's top three mobile operators VimpelCom, posted a US GAAP net profit of $801 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, after a net loss of $386 million a year earlier, the company said on Wednesday.
The net financial result for VimpelCom, which operates under the Beeline trademark, was above a consensus forecast of $470 million from analysts polled by Prime news agency.
VimpelCom’s fourth-quarter 2012 revenue grew by 3 percent year-on-year to $6 billion while EBITDA climbed 13 percent to $2.4 billion, with EBITDA margin up 3.3 percentage points to 41.1 percent.
VimpelCom’s 2012 net profit quadrupled year-on-year to $2.1 billion, while revenue was down by 2 percent to $23 billion. EBITDA for the year rose by 3 percent to $9.8 billion, with the EBITDA margin rising to 42.4 percent from 40.6 percent a year earlier.
“Our 2012 results, with clear operational improvements, demonstrate our ability to deliver on our strategy and objectives. In 2013 we expect to deliver results in line with our enhanced Value Agenda objectives for 2013-2015,” VimpelCom CEO Jo Lunder said.
VimpelCom's total mobile subscriber base grew by 5 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter 2012 to 214 million.
