MTS Group revenue in the third quarter of 2013 increased by 4% to 103 billion rubles

The telecommunications operator MTS has announced its consolidated financial and operating results for the third quarter of 2013, ended September 30, 2013.

Key financial indicators of the third quarter of 2013 :

Consolidated revenues of the MTS Group, denominated in Russian rubles grew in the third quarter of 2013 at an annual rate of 4% to 103 billion rubles, qoq growth was 6%.
Consolidated OIBDA for the MTS Group in the third quarter of 2013 grew at an annual rate of 5% to 46 billion rubles, the growth rate for the quarter was 4%.
OIBDA margin in the third quarter of 2013 on the MTS Group amounted to 44.8%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points in annual terms.
MTS in the third quarter keeps a record low ratio of net debt to LTM OIBDA at 1,0 x due to improved operating performance and effective management of the debt portfolio.
Net profit of MTS, excluding one-time factors in the third quarter of 2013 grew at an annual rate of 3% to 18.1 billion rubles to 17.6 billion rubles. Given the one-off factors, including non-cash gains / losses from exchange rate differences, and compensation under the settlement of the dispute over "Bitel" MTS Group net profit in the third quarter of 2013 decreased year on year by 14%.
Free cash flow for the first nine months of 2013 amounted to 72 billion rubles, an increase of 24.5 billion rubles, compared with the same period last year. Free cash flow of the MTS Group for 9 months 2013 increased by 51% over the first 9 months of 2012.
According to the new dividend policy, adopted in April 2013, the dividend payout from 2013 are calculated based on free cash flow, rather than the net profit of the company.