Rostelecom Announces Its IFRS Financial and Operating Results for the First Quarter of 2020
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ROSTELECOM PJSC (RKMD) ROSTELECOM PJSC: Rostelecom announces its IFRS financial and operating results for the first quarter of 2020 19-May-2020 / 09:32 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 ANNOUNCES ITS IFRS FINANCIAL AND OPERATING RESULTS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2020[1] Revenue growth of 10%; 12% increase in OIBDA[2]; mobile revenue up 16% Moscow, Russia - May 19, 2020 - Rostelecom PJSC (MOEX: RTKM, RTKMP; OTCQX: ROSYY), the largest digital integrated service provider in Russia, today announces its consolidated financial results for the first quarter of 2020 prepared in accordance with IFRS[3], with an overview also provided on how on the Company has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, and what impact it is having on the business. In accordance with the accounting policy of the Group, the acquisition of Tele2 Russia has been recognized as a business combination under common control. According to this method the merger of businesses arising from a transfer of entity stakes under common control of the Group's shareholders, is presented as if the merger took place in the earliest period of the statements, or, if later, effective from the date that common control was put into effect; for this purpose comparatives are revised. Rostelecom's consolidated financial statements for 2019 have therefore been revised to incorporate Tele2 Russia's performance as if the acquisition had been completed on 1 January 2019. COVID-19 The unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has created a dynamic and intense environment for people and organizations around the world, including Rostelecom's employees and clients. Amid constraints around physical movement, the stability of ICT infrastructure and the prevalence of digitalization are playing an increasingly important role. As a company of strategic importance to the Russian Federation, it is essential that Rostelecom continues to provide reliable services to support the Russian economy, millions of Russian families that require our infrastructure as well as a significant number of organizations across the country. To ensure business continuity and to enable Rostelecom to navigate the impact of COVID-19, Rostelecom has taken the following actions. Protecting employees Starting from March 16, 2020, a work from home policy has been implemented to limit the majority of office employees' exposure to the virus without compromising their ability to remain connected, productive and t o work securely. This has required adding extra capacity and technology equipment to permit a large-scale transition. To date, around 60,000 employees have been working from home. All staff have been provided with remote access to their workplaces, corporate mail, IT systems and smart solutions for audio and video conferencing. IT infrastructure has been re-organized, partially based on the Company's internal network and owned programmes such as Tionix Virtual Desktop (VDI), located in Rostelecom's data centers. On-site staff responsible for the continuity of business processes and front-line employees have been provided with sets of personal protective equipment, including masks, gloves and sanitizers. Continuous monitoring systems have been put in place to ensure occupational safety and to protect the health protection of our people and their families. A permanent remote working policy is under development for after the Covid-19 pandemic. The initiative will generate more attractive working conditions for staff and allow significant cost savings on office rent and maintenance going forward. Ensuring business resilience Complex organizational and technical measures have been developed to ensure that national telecommunications infrastructure remains resilient. The investment programme has been recalibrated to support priority projects, such as improving the strength and capacity of networks and IT infrastructure in response to pent-up demand in consumer broadband caused by self- isolation restrictions. Going forward, this will provide a strong buffer for the increase in client base and traffic. Internal business processes have been transformed to accelerate thed igitalisation of operations, including the shift to electronic signatures and paperless operations. Rostelecom's crisis action planning and response was formulated on the basis of a s e t of COVID-19 scenarios that reflect economic developments and impact on all client groups, including businesses, individual customers and state clients. The forecasted reduction in economic activity across a number of business streams, including SMEs, complimentary services for people and certain state projects might have certain impact on Rostelecom's business growth. At the same time, this potential negative effect will be counterbalanced by the anticipated significant growth in B2B and B2G demand for digital solutions for remote working, online learning and other services. These forward-looking scenario planning models currently assume no job cuts thanks tot he optimization of OpEx and the deferral of other non-critical investment projects. In t h e current environment, the management team has been focusing ont he Company's performance, ensuring that it maintains a reasonable level of debt and ensuing that it is able to meet it dividend commitments as stated in the Company's dividend policy. The Company will present revised guidance under the new perimeter of consolidation over the coming reporting periods, as the industry is still experiencing a high level of uncertainty regarding self-isolation, the scope of government aid provided to households and industries hit by the pandemic and the its macro-economic implications. Supporting clients Rostelecom has adapted its product line to respond to the pandemic, ensuring that it remains a strategic and reliable digital partner to its key client audiences. for SMEs Rostelecom: lifted the blocking of certain services with zero account added 100 extra minutes of mobile connectivity and 10Gb of Internet capacity for existing clients introduced a 60-day test period for mobile and virtual telephony for new clients. Rostelecom also developed a set of services for remote working for large clients, including: 1) access to public and corporate resources based on broadband, VPN and virtual data; 2) reliable and seamless connection based on Hosted PBX, 8-800 toll free numbers and mobile services; and 3) remote control and information security services. A brand-new heat-detection solution was introduced based on thermal imaging cameras and software that can be integrated with any corporate system. The service has been introducedb y a number of companies, including ALROSA; A new "Dedicated virtual conference room" product was developed that provides companies with the possibility to roll out an owned virtual server with all the software required for their needs; Audio and video conferencing capacity was more than doubled; The "Rostelecom Liceum" digital service was commissioned and developed for primary school students. The service is available for RUB 1 across all Russian regions providing access to two platforms "School" and "Development"; Rostelecom started to support the public COVID-19 information contact centre стопкоронавирус.рф, which provides guidance to support people during the coronavirus pandemic; Free access to five best culture and art TV channels was provided and a collection of more than 5000 national and international movies, series, kids, entertainment and educational content on the digital platform Wink; maximum Internet speed capacity was increased for those who work and study from home; for Tele2 Russia mobile clients: Hotline traffic limits were reset and access was provided to the public COVID-19 information contact centre стопкоронавирус.рф; provided free access to messengers to those stranded abroad; Extra data added to the data plans of those following guidelines around self-isolation. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS Revenue grew by 10% year-on-year; Mobile services grew by 16% year-on-year; Sales in digital services increased by 63% year-on-year; OIBDA grew by 12%; Free Cash Flow (FCF) [4] improved more than twofold. FIRST QUARTER 2020 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS Revenue grew by 10% to RUB 121.6 billion; OIBDA up by 12% to RUB 47.1 billion; OIBDA margin grew by 0.7 p.p. to 38.7%; Net profit increased by 1% to RUB 7.7 billion; CAPEX[5] excluding state programmes decreased by 15% to RUB 22.0 billion (18.1% of revenue) compared to 1Q 2019; Free Cash Flow (FCF) improved more than twofold to RUB (5.9) billion; and Net debt[6] increased by 18% since the beginning of the year to RUB 392.8 billion, resulting in a Net Debt/OIBDA ratio of 2.2x. Key figures for 1Q 2020, RUB mln RUB million 1Q 2020 1Q 2019 change, y-o-y Revenue 121,613 110,225 10% OIBDA 47,082 41,865 12% OIBDA margin % 38.7% 38.0% - Operating Income 18,947 16,764 13% Operating margin % 15.6% 15.2% - Net Income 7,712 7,667 1% % of revenue 6.3% 7.0% - Capital Expenditure 21,997 25,749 (15%) % of revenue 18.1% 23.4% - Net debt 392,821 333,924 18% Net debt/ annualised 2.2 2.0 - OIBDA FCF (5,946) (15,518) 9,572 Mikhail Oseevskiy, President of Rostelecom, commented: "Rostelecom Group's consolidated results for the first quarter of this year reflect the first contribution from the full integration of Tele2 Russia. Together, we have managed to increase revenue and OIBDA by 10% and 13% respectively. We are also seeing continuous growth in net income and have increased FCF more than twofold. The main goals of consolidating 100% of Tele2 Russia into Rostelecom are already being realized and we are getting closer to creating Russia's largest integrated provider of digital services, capable of significantly improving financial performance, strengthening and consolidating our leading position in the Russian telecommunications, IT and other high-tech industries. The management greatly appreciates the contribution of the most rapidly growing mobile operator in the world[7] to the group's overall performance.