Russian mobile carrier MegaFon has been approved to float on the London Stock Exchange by the UK Listing Authority (UKLA).
“Everything is official and has been approved,” said a source familiar with the matter cited in media reports.
Elena…
Russian mobile carrier MegaFon has been approved to float on the London Stock Exchange by the UK Listing Authority (UKLA).
“Everything is official and has been approved,” said a source familiar with the matter cited in media reports.
Elena Alexandrova, head of corporate communications at MegaFon, would not confirm to TelecomFinance today that the operator had received regulatory consent, but said: “We are still expecting to go ahead with the IPO by the end of the year.”
It had been suggested previously that MegaFon might struggle to stick to the timetable if there was a further delay of the regulatory approval.
A UKLA spokesperson told TelecomFinance that they were unable to comment on approved listings until the company’s prospectus was published.
MegaFon already has approval from the Russian regulator to list shares equalling 19.9% of its total equity abroad.
MegaFon reported positive results for the third quarter this month, including consolidated revenues of Rbs71.23bn (US$2.26bn) – up 12.3% from Q3 2011. OIBDA was up 21.1% year-on-year to Rbs32.138bn (US$1bn), while the OIBDA margin was 45.1% versus 41.9% in Q3 last year. Net income was up 19.6% year-on-year to Rbs14.95bn (US$473.4m), while net debt totalled Rbs139.89m (US$4.4bn).
MegaFon CEO Ivan Tavrin highlighted the company’s “strong performance” across all business sectors driven by “solid sequential revenue growth, strong OIBDA gain with the highest margin in the last eight quarters, increased cash flow, and the highest ever quarterly net income in the history of the company”.
