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11.2% y/y to 71.4mn, while its ARPU increased by 1.5% y/y. Reported EBITDA in Pakistan declined by 9.7% y/y, but this was due to the one-off impact of the reversal of a provision in 3Q20 (underlying EBITDA was up 24.6% y/y).
Equity free cash flow came in at $308mn, up from $63mn in 2Q21 and $239mn in 3Q20. Net debt/EBITDA was 2.5, flat y/y.
The company increased its 2021 guidance for EBITDA. It now expects EBITDA growth of at least 8% (up from the mid- to high-single-digit local-currency growth previously). Revenue guidance remained unchanged at high-single-digit growth in local-currency terms. Capex guidance was left unchanged at 22-24% of revenues.
Rostelecom announced yesterday, 25 October, that it had acquired a 50.01% stake in BFT Holding for a total value of no more than RUB1.65bn. Rostelecom plans to complete the deal in three tranches before 2023 as long as the parties fulfill certain conditions. BFT Holding is set to become a subsidiary of Rostelecom while retaining its key staff and competencies. BFT Holding is one of Russia’s leading IT companies, developing software and various turnkey solutions for the public sector (the company’s products are used by 80 municipal authorities) and corporate clients. According to Rostelecom, the deal should mainly strengthen the company’s ecosystem of public products. In 2020, BFT Holding generated revenue of RUB3.4bn. We see the deal as marginally positive for Rostelecom. The acquisition seems complementary to Rostelecom’s existing competencies and is in line with the company’s strategy for 2020-25 to develop its Digital services for public sector cluster, among other goals. The deal also looks value-accretive. On our estimates, the acquisition value implies a 2020 EV/sales multiple for BFT Holding of around 1x, which is lower than Rostelecom’s own such multiple of c. 1.5x.
9.2.10 Utilities & Renewables corporate news
Enel Russia is progressing through its profitability low point after the ESG-driven sale of coal-fired Reftinskaya GRES and the COVID-related delay to both of its wind projects, as well as the expiry of elevated capacity payments on DPM.
The strong fossil-fuel generation recovery across the country, though, has somewhat eased the task, and we estimate that the 3Q21 profits are already going to show profitability growth. Our 9.6% dividend yield outlook for FY21F still looks realistic. However, we warn of the high dependency on ENRU’s ability to launch the Murmansk wind farm on time. We reiterate our 12-month Target Price of RUB1.00 with an ETR of 23%, Buy.
9mo21 results – quarterly profitability growth indicates the trough is
158 RUSSIA Country Report November 2021 www.intellinews.com