Page 112 - RusRPTDec19

down 3% y/y to RUB20.7–21.1bn in 1H19, while the indoor ad market segment declined 6% y/y to RUB1.2-1.3bn. Digital solutions might be one of the drivers of indoor ads, although they account for a relatively small portion of this segment at the moment, we believe. Still, solutions in this area might help Mail.ru Group to expand its advertising business in the long term. We note that Yandex launched indoor advertising in 2018.
● Qiwi
Russian electronic payment system ​Qiwi​ boosted net profit by 62% year-on-year and Ebitda by 42% ​(at 32% and 42% margin, respectively), in the 3Q19 under IFRS. The growth was attributed to 15% gain in revenues. As reported by ​bne IntelliNews,​ main shareholder of Qiwi Sergey Solonin said in October that a sale of a ​minor stake in the company was possible​. Previous unconfirmed reports suggested that Solonin (19% economic, 65% voting stake) and Boris Kim (2% economic, 7% voting stake) have been looking for a buyer for their stakes. If unsuccessful, they may consider selling select assets belonging to the company. In 3Q19 for Qiwi the payments segment net revenue remained key driver advancing 29% due to an increase in payment volumes. Money remittances (+33%) and e-commerce (+30%) remained key growth source – driven by Qiwi’s presence in growing online betting and expansion in B2B payment solutions (also reflected in 7% y/y increase in number of e-wallets to 22mn), BCS Global Markets commented on November 20.
● Other
Russian integrated telecom major​ ​Rostelecom​ asked to provide RUB42bn-RUB129bn (up to $2bn) in state support for the development of domestic data storage and cloud services​, in order to improve the international competitiveness of the segment and bring exports to the half of domestic market by 2030, ​Kommersant d​ aily reported on November 21 citing the support package draft submitted to the government. As reported by ​bne IntelliNews,​ in 2018, the ​country's cloud services segment grew​ by 25% y/y to RUB68.4bn ($1.1bn), and about 70% of it is accounted for by SaaS - Software as a Service, or programmes that are operated from the cloud rather than being installed on a personal computer. Russia's market of cloud services has been boosted by a recent requirement that Russian citizens' personal data should be stored within the country as part of the Kremlin’s ongoing drive to sanction-proof the Russian economy. Meanwhile, Russia's cloud services industry is projected to grow by roughly 23% a year over the next few years and could reach RUB155bn ($3.4bn) by the end of 2022, according to iKS-Consulting. Foreign customers' share has been growing and currently stands at 5.1% for SaaS and at 2.2% for the IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) segment, which covers various types of cloud data storage.
One of the largest Russian retailers ​Dixy Group​ will launch online grocery sales of its format Viktoria in 1H20, ​the CEO of the group Igor Pletnev told Vedomosti daily. Pletnev did not specify which is the marketplace the sales will be hosted on. Currently largest e-commerce marketplaces include Wilderberries, Ozon, Beru of Yandex.Marker (JV of Yandex and Sberbank), AliExpress, Tmall, Goods developed by electronics retailer major M.Video-Eldorado, and others. As reported by​ bne intelliNews,​ Russia’s largest retailer X5 Group also focuses on digital solutions and develops online sales of its supermarket format. O’kay retailer also runs an online supermarket, while
112​ RUSSIA Country Report​ December 2019 ​ ​www.intellinews.com