Vodafone Ukraine reports its results for the first quarter of 2023. War-related expenses – emergency network repairs, assistance to the country and customers, massive customer migration abroad – significantly affected the dynamics of key financial indicators compared to Q1 2022.
However, Vodafone Ukraine continues to maintain business stability. Despite the impact of the war, the company has more than tripled its network investments compared to the first quarter of 2022. At the same time, business efficiency remains stable.
The company’s revenue in the first quarter of 2023 amounted to UAH 5.1 billion (USD 138 mln). The 2% year-on-year decrease was due to a decrease in the number of mobile users as a result of active hostilities, the unavailability of mobile networks in the temporarily occupied territories and in the war zone, and mass migration. Compared to Q4 2022, the subscriber base remained stable, with 15.4 million subscribers using Vodafone services.
More than 2.2 million of them remain abroad and continue to use Vodafone services. In the first quarter of 2023, Vodafone extended its special offer – most Vodafone tariffs offer a free connection to the “Affordable Roaming” service. The service provides 10GB of mobile Internet and 100 minutes of calls to subscribers in Ukraine and in the host country, subject to a paid Ukrainian service package.
OIBDA amounted to UAH 2.85 billion (USD 77.1 mln), down 3% year-on-year for the quarter. The OIBDA margin remained stable at 55.8%, a decrease of less than 1 percentage point. Vodafone’s net profit in the first quarter of 2023 exceeded UAH 1 billion (USD 27 mln). The doubling of the figure compared to the same period last year was driven by a decrease in foreign exchange losses due to the NBU’s martial law currency policy (the US dollar to hryvnia exchange rate was fixed on July 21, 2022).
The company’s ARPU also increased to UAH 104 ($2.82) per month as a result of increased mobile internet penetration and usage.
Vodafone increased its capital investments by 3.3 times, reaching UAH 1.25 billion (USD 33.8 mln) in the first quarter of 2023. This allowed Vodafone engineers to restore the damaged infrastructure, quickly repair equipment, and develop and expand the network.
