DJ ROSTELECOM PJSC: ROSTELECOM FINANCIAL AND OPERATING RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER 2021
ROSTELECOM PJSC (RKMD) ROSTELECOM PJSC: ROSTELECOM FINANCIAL AND OPERATING RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER 2021 13-May-2021 / 09:30 MSK Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside information according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR), transmitted by EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. =---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ROSTELECOM FINANCIAL AND OPERATING RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER 2021 First quarter revenue increased by 9%; OIBDA[1] up 18%; net profit up 58% and FCF[2] increases by RUB 8.4 billion. Moscow, Russia - May 13, 2021 - Rostelecom PJSC (MOEX: RTKM, RTKMP; OTCQX: ROSYY), the largest digital service provider in Russia, today announces its consolidated financial results for the first quarter of 2021 prepared in accordance with IFRS[3]. FIRST QUARTER 2021 KEY FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS - Revenue grew by 9% to RUB 132.0 billion compared to 1Q 2020: - OIBDA up 18% to RUB 55.4 billion; - OIBDA margin up 3.3 p.p. to 42.0%; - Net profit up 58% to RUB 11.8 billion; - CAPEX[4] excluding state programs increased by 24% year-on-year to RUB 27.2 billion (20.6% of revenue); - FCF of RUB 2.1 billion following a marked improvement of RUB 8.4 billion; - Net Debt[5] (including lease liabilities) increased by 1% YTD, amounting to RUB 470.7 billion, resulting in a Net Debt/OIBDA ratio of 2.3x. Key figures for 1Q 2020, RUB mln RUB million 1Q 2021 1Q 2020 change, y-o-y Revenue 131,958 121,613 9% OIBDA 55,437 47,082 18% OIBDA margin % 42,0% 38,7% - Operating Income 22,672 19,309 17% Operating margin % 17,2% 15,9% - Net Income 11,810 7,453 58% % of revenue 8,9% 6,1% - Capital Expenditure excl. state programs 27,181 21,873 24% % of revenue 20,6% 18,0% - Net debt (incl. lease liabilities) 470,665 471,166 (-0.1%) Net debt/ OIBDA 2.3 2.7 - FCF 2,088 (6,358) 8,446
Mikhail Oseevskiy, President of Rostelecom, commented: "2021 has started off well: the Company's revenue increased by 9%, OIBDA was up 18%, and net profit increased by 58% in the first quarter of 2021. We were also able to significantly improve our free cash flow position, which increased by RUB 8.4 billion over the reporting period.
"The 2025 development strategy adopted by the Board of Directors this quarter puts us on a course to maintain our strong financial and operating results. The updated strategy sharpens our focus on digital transformation and the continuation of a sustainable development model of an integrated provider of digital services and solutions. The pursuit of smart growth in traditional businesses is central to our latest strategic cycle as we seek to maximize return on investment and cash flow. We are also intending to consolidate our leadership and further develop segments such as data centres and cloud services, cybersecurity, online medicine, digital regions and government digital services.
"To meet these strategic ambitions, we will be looking closely at implementing radical cost reductions in traditional businesses, to significantly increase productivity and provide a meaningful uplift on our OIBDA margin as a group.
"Our priority task is to grow OIBDA by one and a half times. A significant part of this goal will be met by our fast-growing businesses, which carry a higher growth multiple than our traditional telecom segments. Furthermore, our new dividend policy will guarantee shareholders an increase in dividend payments, which combined with our growth story, contributes to Rostelecom's attractiveness as an investment."
Vladimir Kirienko, First Vice-President of Rostelecom, commented: "During the first three months of this year, growth in new digital services was accompanied by stable growth in our core services. Our retail segment saw a remarkable pace of growth despite market saturation. We have posted a threefold increase in revenue from the cloud video storage service, our Wink platform, which is gaining in popularity and is now among the top 5 online cinemas in the country. Our flagship product "Rostelecom Key" has passed the 100,000-user milestone, while the number of "Game" tariff subscribers continues to grow, helped by its promotion to the Tele2 Russia client base. We are developing partnerships with large corporations, small and medium-sized businesses and government agencies to offer them a wide range of digital services. Rostelecom experts have, as an example, used our Video Surveillance and Video Analytics platform to enhance the monitoring of solid municipal waste, they have developed a geographic information system for the agro-industrial complex of Udmurtia, we have developed a product to monitor the security of Solar appScreener applications for two international clients. Together with Mail.ru Group, we have also launched the educational platform Sferum, which in just a few weeks reached more than 100,000 school children across the country.
"We are also focusing our efforts on the businesses that are becoming an increasingly significant part of our portfolio, which includes our contribution to the state's Digital Economy program, which seeks to reduce the digital divide in Russia and ensure that businesses and households have equal access to digital infrastructure wherever they are in the country.
"It is also important to highlight the strong results that Tele2 Russia continues demonstrate as it firmly consolidates its leadership in the mobile segment, particularly in terms of NPS and revenue growth rates. The successful transformation of Rostelecom into a digital giant is enabling us to formulate ambitious strategic plans for the coming years, based on our new set of growth objectives that set out to exceed market growth for our innovative clusters."
Sergey Anokhin, Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer added: "The company continued to demonstrate consistently strong dynamics across all key financial indicators in 2021, thanks to on-going drive to increase efficiency and optimise costs. Free cash flow, one of our key target indicators, was strong during the quarter to remain positive at the end of the first quarter for the first time in recent years.
"To increase transparency, we have taken steps to clarify the methodology used to calculate net debt, including lease liabilities, a significant part of which is accrued in accordance with IFRS 16. It is important to point out that the new methodology has changed Rostelecom's Net debt/OIBDA ratio, which is purely technical and not due to an actual increase in Rostelecom's debt burden beyond the previously established levels. Rostelecom anticipates that debt levels will remain below a Net debt/OIBDA ratio of 3x on an annualized basis. Corresponding clarifications have been made to the approved dividend policy by adjusting the principles around which the dividend is agreed and paid. The same clarifications will ensure that Rostelecom preserves its credit ratings by S&P, Moody's, Fitch, ACRA and Expert RA.
"While our performance in during the first quarter has exceeded our expectations, macroeconomic risk factors that could negatively impact our results remain and we prefer to be conservative when setting guidance for 2021. We therefore maintain our previously published forecast for 2021, where we expect to see a minimum 5% increase in consolidated revenues and OIBDA, with ?APEX of between RUB 110-115 billion, excluding the implementation of state programs. We may revisit these forecasts over the course of the coming reporting periods."
KEY OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS
Fixed business
Number of subscribers (million): 1Q 2021 1Q 2020 change, y-o-y 4Q 2020 change, y-o-y Internet access 13.5 13.2 2% 13.5 0% B2C: Broadband 12.4 12.2 2% 12.4 0% B2B: Broadband + VPN 1.1 1.1 6% 1.1 1% Pay TV 10.8 10.5 3% 10.8 0% Incl. IPTV 6.2 5.7 9% 6.1 2% Hosted PBX 0.170 0.128 33% 0.160 6% Local telephony services 13.7 15.2 (10%) 14.0 (3%) ARPU[6] (RUB): 1Q 2021 1Q 2020 change, y-o-y 4Q 2020 change, y-o-y Internet access B2C: Broadband 406 397 2% 395 3% B2B: Broadband + VPN 3,477 3,368 3% 3,372 3% Pay TV 254 257 (1%) 250 2% Incl. IPTV 307 319 (4%) 302 2% Hosted PBX 977 1,118 (13%) 1,186 (18%) Blended ARPU[7] 563 551 2% 546 3%
Mobile business
1Q 2020 1Q 2019 change, y-o-y 4Q 2020 change, y-o-y Data Traffic, incl. MVNO,Pb 1,457 1,087 34% 1,442 1% Churn, % (8.2%) (9.2%) (1.0 p.p.) (8.1%) 0.1 p.p. Growth of active mobile Internet users, % 19.9% 36.1% (16.2 p.p.) 20.0% (0.1 p.p.) 1. The total number of Internet subscribers among households grew by 2% to 12.4 million in the first quarter of 2021
compared to the corresponding period of last year. ARPU also increased by 2% year-on-year to RUB 406. 2. The total number of Internet and VPN subscribers in B2B increased by 6% year-on-year to 1.1 million; ARPU increased
by 3% year-on-year to RUB 3,477. 3. The number of pay-TV subscribers grew by 3% to 10.8 million users compared to the corresponding period of last
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DJ ROSTELECOM PJSC: ROSTELECOM FINANCIAL AND -2-
year, with average ARPU of RUB 254 in B2C; - the number of IPTV subscribers increased by 9% to 6.2 million, and ARPU was RUB 307 in B2C; 4. The number of active mobile Internet users increased by 20% year-on-year during 1Q 2020. Year-on-year growth in
mobile Internet data traffic reached 34% during the first quarter of 2021; while cellular customer base churn
decreased to 8.2%; 5. The number of local telephony subscribers decreased by 10% to 13.7 million.
KEY EVENTS RELATING TO Q1 2021 AND AFTER THE END OF THE REPORTING PERIOD
Business news - Rostelecom continues to develop and expand its range of products and services: - within the "Game" tariff plan:
- the tariff has been expanded to subscribers of the Alliance Telecom network, making the plan's most popular
games available to a larger number of subscribers in the Far East;
Revenue generated by the "Game" tariff increased by 13% in the first quarter of 2021. - Digital OTT platform Wink is now among the top 5 online cinema in the country:
- new TV channel packages launched: Transformer, Maximum, Premium as well as a subscription to Greatest Hits
videos;
- launched an AVOD (Advertising Video on Demand) model to provide free access to content by viewing ads;
- together with Tele2 Russia, an "exchange minutes for films" offer has been implemented.
During the first quarter of 2021, the number of Wink customers accessing videos on two or more devices increased by 30% to 2 million. Meanwhile, the number of Wink customers who manage the service using voice assistants tripled during 1Q 2021 to over 50,000. - Rostelecom's "Key solution" continues to expand its functionality:
- Added a video analytics function to track special vehicles and traffic control;
- SIP video monitors for apartments have been introduced;
The "Key solution" surpassed a key milestone of 100,000 users during the first quarter of 2021. - Enhancements to "Smart Home" and home video surveillance services continue to be introduced, including:
- a set of measures have been implemented to improve the service's resistance to DDoS / Brute Force attacks;
Revenue generated from the cloud video storage service has increased threefold. - B2C fibre broadband revenues grew by 13%; - Launched the educational platform "Sferum" jointly with Mail.ru Group, which saw more than 100,000 schoolchildren
became users of the digital educational platform in just a few weeks; - a new platform "Wi-Fi 2.0" was launched for corporate clients with advanced capabilities in terms of statistical
and analytical tools for analyzing user behaviour in a public Wi-Fi network; - Rostelecom continued to expand its digital segment during the first quarter of 2021: - as part of the development of cybersecurity services:
- additional services were introduced to the market:
- a new automated Incident Response Plan (IRP);
- a sandbox service to protect against advanced cyber threats;
- a new version of the Solar appScreener 3.8 source code security product, which now has an innovative
vulnerability analysis function under trial;
- updates made to the Solar webProxy 3.5 secure web gateway with additions in the role model of
differentiation of access rights and flexible export of data from the system;
- The Solar inRights access rights management solution received compatibility certification for 1C: Enterprise
and the Alt Server operating system based on Linux;
- Completion of a large-scale project to monitor and respond to incidents within Rosseti's infrastructure in
Ural;
- Support was provided to Halyk Bank JSC, the largest universal commercial bank in the Republic of Kazakhstan,
with the installation of the Solar Dozor system to prevent the leakage of confidential data in 25 of the bank's
branches;
- supported the Singapore State insurance fund, Central Provident Fund Board (CPF), and Scoot Airlines, a
subsidiary of Singapore Airlines with the integration of Solar appScreener - a service to manage applications'
vulnerability; - Rostelecom also continues to develop its suite of B2B cloud and data centre services:
- Cloud solution DataLine Cloud-152 was certified to operate state information systems and was deployed at two
Moscow-based data centres;
- The TIONIX Virtual Security product received the FSTEC certification (Federal Service for Technical and Export
Control);
- The Internet Technical Center (TCI) was included on the register of domestic IT companies, and has also
received ISO / IEC 27001: 2013 certification;
- A new 300-rack data centre was launched in Novosibirsk; - Operator business segment highlights include: - 10% year-on-year increase in ?2?[8] project revenues; - the first long-term contract was awarded to Rostelecom and Megafon to provide a section of the optical spectrum; - the provision of a 100G link from Frankfurt to Tokyo in preparation for the 2021 Olympic Games as well as a 100G
link to Frankfurt; - Large projects undertaken include: - the development of a geographic information system for an agro-industrial complex at Udmurtia; - the implementation of an agribusiness systems integration project for Agrotech group in the Far East; - The roll out of digital infrastructure required to undertake the Russian national Census in 2021, as part of a
government contract with Rosstat. - Rostelecom's subsidiary, mobile operator Tele2, continues to strengthen its offering and customers can now:
- collect and save up minutes and gigabytes indefinitely;
- Use digital payment cards;
- gain access to online cinema Wink;
- purchase SIM cards at Lukoil gas stations;
- get a terabyte of Internet when buying Samsung gadgets;
- receive paid services regardless of their account balance.
During the year the company increased the number of base stations by almost a third;
Other news - The Rostelecom Board approved the Company's corporate strategy to 2025 and adopted its dividend policy for
2021-2023; - Rostelecom was also recognised during the quarter as:
- the number one provider of public Wi-Fi access points;
- the leading B2B broadband provider by number of subscribers and revenue;
- the leader in the Free Call service market;
- the top provider of virtual PBX clients;
- the number one provider of installed cloud video surveillance cameras. - cloud provider DataLine, a Rostelecom group company, was recognised by Infinidat as the EMEA "Service Provider of
the Year in 2020"; - Rostelecom is included in the Bloomberg 2021 Gender Equality Index. - Tele2 Russia was ranked the best telecommunications employer according to hh.ru, and also received two gold and
three silvers at the Global Top Ranking Performers Awards; - As part of its sustainable strategic development Tele2 Russia collected more than 4,000 old phones in order to be
recycled.
OPERATING REVIEW
Revenue analysis
Revenue structure by services
RUB million 1Q 2021 1Q 2020 change Mobile 46,100 40,964 13% Broadband 24,029 21,993 9% Digital 14,149 12,520 13% TV services 9,949 9,489 5% Wholesale services 18,397 17,771 4% Interconnect and traffic transit services 4,422 4,247 4% VPN 7,554 7,026 8% Rent of channels 2,476 2,434 2% Rent and maintenance of telecommunications infrastructure 3,945 4,064 (3%) Fixed telephony 12,741 14,190 (10%) Other services 6,593 4,686 41% Total 131,958 121,613 9%
Revenue structure by customer segments
RUB million 1Q 2021 1Q 2020 change B2C 67,164 62,807 7% Corporate customers / Government customers 43,741 38,996 12% Operators 19,973 18,845 6% Other 1,079 964 12% Total 131,958 121,613 9%
In the first quarter of 2021, revenue increased year-on-year by 9% to RUB 132.0 billion, as a result of the following factors: - a 13% increase in revenue from mobile services, mainly due to a higher volume of mobile Internet data consumption
and standard voice services; - 9% growth in revenue from broadband services due to a higher number of subscribers, growth in ARPU as well as
revenues from Internet connection contracts; - a 41% increase in revenues from other services, due to the consolidation of Lukoil-inform operations acquired
during the fourth quarter of 2020, as well as growth in money transfers and mobile payments; - a 13% increase in digital revenues mainly driven by the promotion of cloud and data centres services, the
development of platform-based e-government solutions and other innovative services. The late signing of contracts
with relating to some Digital regions and Cyber security projects also had an impact.
Operating income analysis
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DJ ROSTELECOM PJSC: ROSTELECOM FINANCIAL AND -3-
Breakdown of operating expenses
RUB million 1Q 2021 1Q 2020 change Personnel costs (34,170) (32,190) 6% Depreciation, Amortization and impairment losses of non-current assets (31,656) (26,765) 18% Interconnection charges (23,627) (21,429) 10% Materials, repairs and maintenance, utilities (9,591) (8,840) 8% Gain on the disposal of PPE and intangible assets 2,545 1,359 87% Impairment loss of financial assets measured at amortized cost 1,295 (1,163) - Other operating income 5,202 5,657 (8%) Other operating expenses (19,284) (18,933) 2% Total operating expenses (109,286) (102,304) 7%
In the first quarter of 2021, operating expenses increased by 7% compared to the corresponding period of 2020, to amount to RUB 109.3 billion, largely due to the following factors: - 18% increase (of RUB 4.9 bln) in depreciation, amortization and impairment losses for non-current assets, due to an
increase in depreciation charges associated with new objects, intangible assets and leases; - 10% increase (of RUB 2.2 bln) in interconnection charges, due to increased direct costs as well as higher traffic
caused by the pandemic and the widespread transition to remote communications; - 6% growth (of RUB 2.0 billion) in personnel costs, mainly due to an increase in the share of high-paid employees
with skills in digital business; - charges relating to the impairment of amortized financial assets amounted to RUB 2.5 billion as a result of the
Company's new provisioning method based on projections of credit losses for certain counterparts or its groups; - an 87% increase in gains from the disposal of PPE and intangible assets, amounting to RUB 1.2 billion, was recorded
mainly due better results in the disposal of real estate.
Operating profit for the first quarter of 2021 increased by 17% year-on-year to RUB 22.7 billion.
OIBDA for 1Q 2021 increased by 18% to RUB 55.4 billion. OIBDA dynamics were influenced by revenue growth, as well as by the changes in operating expenses referred to above. OIBDA margin for 1Q 2021 increased by 3.3 p.p. to reach 42.0%.
Net Income Analysis
Profit before tax increased by 56% year-on-year during the first quarter of 2021 to RUB 15.1 billion. This was mainly due to the increase in operating profit and the absence of foreign exchange losses during the reporting period.
Income tax in 1Q 2021 amounted to RUB 3.3 billion, compared to RUB 2.3 billion during the corresponding period of 2020, following the increase in profit before tax.
Net profit increased by 58% year-on-year during the first quarter of 2021 to reach RUB 11.8 billion.
Financial review
Net operating cash flow for 1Q 2021 increased by 74% to reach RUB 28.7 billion, compared to the corresponding period of 2020.
At the end of the first quarter of 2021, the cash outflow for investments in non-current assets, excluding state programmes, increased by 24% to RUB 27.2 billion (20.6% of revenue). Taking into account state programs, this figure increased by 18% to RUB 30.7 billion (23.3% of revenue).
Free cash flow for Q1 2021 amounted to RUB 2.1 billion, a year-on-year improvement of RUB 8.4 billion. This improvement is mainly due to the growth in OIBDA, as well as lower repayments of accounts payable compared to 1Q 2020.
Free Cash Flow (RUB, billion)
As at March 31, 2020, the Group's total debt (including lease liabilities) remained flat compared to the beginning of the year, amounting to RUB 510.1 billion. 100% of the Group's total debt remains rouble-denominated as at March 31st , 2021.
As at March 31, 2021, the Group's net debt (including lease liabilities) increased by 1% since the beginning of the year to RUB 470.7 billion. The company's debt burden over the past 12 months has decreased from 2.7x to 2.3x net debt/ OIBDA[9] (including lease liabilities). OTHER INFORMATION: CONFERENCE CALL
Rostelecom's management will hold a conference call and webcast today at 4:00 PM (Moscow), 3:00 PM (CET), 2:00 PM (UK) and 9:00 AM (NYT). To participate in the conference call, please dial:
UK/ International: +44 (0) 330 336 9125
USA: +1 929 477 0324
Russia: +7 (495) 213 1767
Confirmation Code (ENG): 8450902
Confirmation Code (RUS): 8589944
A webcast of the conference call will only be available in English. To access the webcast please follow the link: https://www.webcast-eqs.com/register/rostelecom20210513/en
A replay of the conference call will be available on the Company's website
https://www.company.rt.ru/ir/results_and_presentations/financials/IFRS/2021/1 /
* * *
APPENDICES 1. Reconciliation of OIBDA; 2. Statement of Comprehensive Income for Q1 2021; 3. Statement of Cash Flows for Q1 2021; 4. Statement of Financial Position for Q1 2021.
APPENDIX 1: RECONCILIATION OF OIBDA
OIBDA is a non-U.S. GAAP and non-IFRS financial measure, which the Company defines as operating income before depreciation and amortisation as well as some certain expenses. We believe that OIBDA provides useful information to investors because it is an indicator of the strength and performance of our business operations, including our ability to finance capital expenditures, acquisitions and other investments and our ability to incur and service debt.
The following indicators are not taken into account in the calculation of OIBDA: - Expenses related to the long-term management incentive programme, implying accruals in personnel costs line; - Expenses related to non-government pension insurance.
RUB million 1Q 2021 1Q 2020 change Operating income 22,672 19,309 17% Plus amortisation (31,656) (26,765) 18% Plus expenses related to the long-term management incentive programme (834) (714) 17% Plus expenses related to non-government pension insurance 275 294 (6%) OIBDA 55,437 47,082 18% OIBDA margin, % 42.0% 38.7%
APPENDIX 2: Statement of Comprehensive Income for Q1 2021
Three-month period ended
31 March (unaudited)
2020
2021
(restated)*
Revenue 131,958 121,613
Operating expenses
Wages, salaries, other benefits and payroll taxes (34,170) (32,190)
Depreciation, amortization and impairment losses (31,656) (26,765)
Interconnection charges (23,627) (21,429)
Materials, utilities, repairs and maintenance (9,591) (8,840)
Gain on disposal of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets 2,545 1,359
Impairment loss of financial assets measured at amortized cost 1,295 (1,163)
Other operating income 5,202 5,657
Other operating expenses (19,284) (18,933)
Total operating expenses, net (109,286) (102,304)
Operating profit 22,672 19,309
Share of net profit/(loss) of associates and joint ventures 18 166
Finance costs (8,893) (8,859)
Other investing and financial gain, net 1,282 646
Foreign exchange (loss)/gain, net 53 (1,543)
Profit before income tax 15,132 9,719
Income tax expense (3,322) (2,266)
Profit for the period 11,810 7,453
Other comprehensive income
Other comprehensive income to be reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations 12 419
Other comprehensive income for the period, net of tax 12 419
Total comprehensive income for the period 11,822 7,872
Profit attributable to:
Equity holders of the Group 11,594 7,250
Non-controlling interests 216 203
Total comprehensive income attributable to:
Equity holders of the Group 11,606 7,669
Non-controlling interests 216 203
Earnings per share attributable to equity holders of the Group - 3.46 2.81
basic (in roubles)
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