Nov 6 (Reuters) - Ukraine's largest telecom operator Kyivstar raised its yearly revenue guidance on Friday,citing strong demand for mobile services and its fast-growing digital services business, asthe company preparesfor2027 without forecasting an end to the conflict.
The Nasdaq-listed operator now expects its revenue to rise between 15% and 17% inUSdollar terms this year, up from 14% to 16% previously. Third-quarter revenue grew 17.5% to $349 million, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisationrose 10.3% to $189 million.
CEO Oleksandr Komarov told Reuters thatKyivstar's infrastructure was directly hit in recent Russian attacks, but there was no disruption to services as its mitigation and emergency measures kicked in.
He said the biggest change in Kyivstar's network wasthe shutdown of its 3G service, a process that took almost three years. More than 70% of its data customers are now on the newer network.
Digital services revenue jumped 68.9% to $76 million in the quarter, now 21.7% of the group total, and the business posted anEBITDA margin of 40.7%. Komarov said the margin slipped slightly mainly due to investment in the modern mobility unit, including the Uklon ride-hailing service which is expanding into delivery and travel.
"We did not factor the end of the war in our 2027 forecast," Komarov said in the interview, noting that Kyivstar tended to be quite conservative in its forecasts. He added the company did not expect the war to end in the "nearest future". It did not publish the outlook for next year yet.
Asked about Kyivstar'sfirst year on Nasdaq, Komarov said he considered it to have been very successful, even if the stock's valuation was “very much driven by the risk appetite rather than the results”.
(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
