Page 99 - bne IntelliNews Russia Country report May 2017

margins, we remain cautious on the name at the current price level. EPAM's 1Q17 revenues increased 23% y/y to $325mn, 2% above our forecast and 3% above consensus. The company also exceeded its top line growth guidance of 19%, partly due to lower FX headwinds, which reduced the revenue growth just 1pp (vs. the company's original expectations of 3pp). Despite the stronger revenue trend, margins remained under pressure, with the non-GAAP operating margin of 15.2% being closer to the lower end of the company's 1Q17 guidance of 15-16%. EBITDA (before stock based compensation) increased 15% y/y to $53mn and came in 2-3% below our and consensus estimates. Non-GAAP adjusted net income (up 12% y/y to $39mn) was also some 1% below our and consensus estimates. GAAP-diluted EPS decreased 2% y/y to $0.44 (below the company's guidance of $0.49), while non-GAAP diluted EPS rose 9% y/y to $0.72 (in line with the company's guidance).
Qiwi announced acquisition of fintech accelerator InspiRUSSIA in May . A value of the deal wasn’t disclosed. InspiRussia was launched in the Russian city of Innopolis by Life.SREDA, a Singapore-based venture fund with Russian origins, in 2016. The accelerator was led by Life.SREDA VC in partnership with Qiwi, TatfondBank and Microsoft. InspiRussia offered a three-month acceleration period for projects and investments in the range of RUB 0.5-3mn for 1-10% in the project, according to Rusbase. InspiRussia is primarily focused on blockchain, big data, insurtech, scoring, security, banktech, AI, bots and bank as a service. According to Qiwi CEO Sergey Solonin, acquiring InspiRussia is another stage in the company’s programme to develop new technologies. Qiwi has received resident status in the Innopolis Special Economic Zone. It plans to enhance its work on processing systems for payments here and also to continue developing existing projects in InspiRUSSIA’s portfolio.
QIWI reported strong 1Q17 IFRS results, well above market expectations . Adjusted 1Q17 net revenue increased 16% y/y/3% Q/q to RUB2.9bn (8% above Interfax consensus). EBITDA rose 4% y/y/21% Q/q to RUB1.5bn (2.4% above consensus) with implied EBITDA margin at 52% (58% for 1Q16). Adjusted net income added 3% y/y/35% Q/q to RUB1.27bn (RUB1.07bn consensus). Total payment volumes through QIWI terminals rose 7.6% y/y to RUB208bn, and average revenue yield added 10 bpts to 1.4%. The company significantly upgraded its FY17 revenue guidance to 10-15% y/y vs 2-5% growth previously, noting that there will be no material impact from the Sovest project. Adjusted net income excluding Sovest expenses is expected to rise 12-17%, and adjusted net income including Sovest expenses should contract by 15-30%. In the previous quarter the company guided for net income growth at 2-5% when adjusted for Sovest. The board has recommended a $0.22 interim DPS (record date: 29 May), implying an expected 1.1% yield.
9.2.9 Utilities corporate news
Russian state energy utility holding Inter RAO reported IFRS Ebitda decline of 10.8% year-on-year to RUB28.9bn (€457mn) in the first quarter of 2017 , the Russian electric energy export monopolist said on May 30. Earnings declined mostly on abroad assets, where Ebitda was down RUB2bn to RUB1.1bn, linked to sales of assets in Armenia and Georgia and ruble strengthening against the euro and US dollar. Nevertheless, Inter RAO posted net profit growth of 10.6% y/y in the reporting quarter to RUB18.8bn. Revenues increased by 3% y/y to RUB238bn, despite exports of electric
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