Almaty, 30 July 2020 – Kcell Joint Stock Company (“Kcell” or the “Company”) (LSE, KASE: KCEL; AIX: KCEL, KCEL.Y), the leading provider of mobile telecommunications services in Kazakhstan, announces its interim results for January – June 2020.
Second quarter
- Net sales increased by 2.0 percent to KZT 38,626 million (37,869).
- EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, remained stable at KZT 16,202 million (16,088), with EBITDA margin of 41.9 percent (42.5).
- Operating income, excluding non-recurring items, increased by 7.9 percent to KZT 8,762 million (8,121).
- Net finance cost decreased by 14.2 percent to KZT 2,384 million (2,779).
- Net income down 59.7 percent to KZT 3,202 million (7,939).
- CAPEX-to-sales ratio of 2.8 percent (5.6).
- Free cash flow of KZT 11,432 million (-3,027).
- The total number of subscriptions decreased by 129 thousand quarter on quarter to 7,863 thousand (7,992).
First half
- Net sales up 7.7 percent to KZT 78,688 million (73,049).
- EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, increased by 6.7 percent to KZT 32,048 million (30,040). EBITDA margin was 40.7 percent (41.1).
- Operating income, excluding non-recurring items, up 17.8 percent to KZT 16,860 million (14,313).
- Net finance cost decreased by 3.0 percent to KZT 4,693 million (4,838).
- Net income of KZT 8,556 million comparing to net loss of KZT 812 million, due to the termination of the Network Sharing Agreement by KaR-Tel LLP, resulting in a KZT 14,552 million penalty which was partially offset by reversal of tax accrual in the amount of KZT 5,069 million.
- CAPEX-to-sales ratio of 4.7 percent (5.8).
- Free cash flow of KZT 14,544 million (4,241).
- The number of subscribers decreased to 7,863 thousand (8,676), mainly as a result of moving from quantity driven distribution to value driven acquisition.