Kyivstar increases revenue by 4.7% in 9 months

In January-September 2024, Kyivstar, Ukraine's largest mobile operator, reported a 4.7% revenue increase to UAH 26.86 billion, while revenue in dollars declined by 4% to $674 million, according to the website of its parent company VEON on Thursday.

Kyivstar's EBITDA dropped by 2.6% to UAH 15.13 billion over the nine-month period, with an EBITDA margin decrease of 4.2 percentage points to 56.4%.

In the third quarter, the operator's revenue rose by 17.9% to UAH 10.25 billion, while dollar revenue grew 4.8% to $250 million. EBITDA increased by 6.9% to 5.92 billion UAH, with a reduced EBITDA margin of 57.7%, down by 5.9 percentage points.

"Kyivstar's revenues and EBITDA in the third quarter of 2024 saw strong growth ensuring business resilience and continuity, despite several challenges including energy blackouts," reads the statement on VEON's website.

Kyivstar's capex surged by 62.5% in the third quarter to UAH 2.62 billion, with a year-to-date increase of 57.5% to UAH 5.97 billion. The company focused on reinforcing reliable connectivity in Ukraine and expanding its 4G network.

Additionally, Kyivstar deployed 2,300 generators and 124,000 backup batteries in Ukraine, which can power base stations for four hours without electricity. Under its "4G Everywhere" strategy, the operator installed over 300 4G base stations from July to September.

Kyivstar's 4G user base grew by 4.3% in the third quarter to 15.3 million, representing 65.4% of its total subscriber base, a 4.8 percentage point increase year-over-year.

However, Kyivstar's total mobile subscriber base declined by 3.3% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, totaling 23.3 million users. The company attributes this reduction to the number of Ukrainians currently residing abroad.

VEON's revenue in the third quarter increased by 9.8% year-over-year to $1.038 billion, while EBITDA declined by 1.5% to $438 million. VEON's capital investments grew by 51.2% in the third quarter, totaling $198 million.

As of September 30, 2024, VEON's total cash and cash equivalents were $1.019 billion (including $143 million related to banking operations in Pakistan and excluding $211 million in Ukrainian sovereign bonds classified as investments), with $453 million held at the headquarters.