Mobile TeleSystems Announces Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year Ended December 31, 2009

MOSCOW, March 31, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS" -NYSE: MBT), the leading telecommunications provider in Russia and the CIS, today announces its unaudited US GAAP financial results for the three months and full year ended December 31, 2009.

    Key Financial Highlights for the FY 2009[1]

    - Consolidated revenues up 3.8% q-o-q to $2,719 million and
      down 17.5% y-o-y to $9,824 million

    - Consolidated OIBDA[2] down 1.9% q-o-q to $1,193 million with 43.9%
      OIBDA margin and down 23.5% y-o-y to $4,474 million with 45.5% OIBDA
      margin

    - Consolidated net loss[3] of 26 million in Q4 2009 and a net
      income of $1,004 million for FY 2009

      - Quarterly net income impacted by a series of one-time and periodic
        charges, including the write off of $368 million in investments, most
        of which is attributable to the re-valuation of our investment in
        Svyazinvest held on the Comstar-UTS level, the charges of $86 million
        related to the write-off of obsolete equipment and expenses related
        to our acquisition of Comstar-UTS and higher non-cash tax provisions
        related to our anticipated upstreaming of dividends from our foreign
        subsidiary companies as their markets mature.

    - Free cash-flow[4] positive with $1,071 million for the full year 2009

    Key Corporate and Industry Highlights for the FY 2009

    - Acquisition of mobile retailers Telefon.Ru (February), Eldorado
      (April) and Teleforum (October) with 1,075 stores in total; signing of
      an agreement with a management team affiliated with Svyaznoy, the
      leading Russian mobile phone retailer, to oversee MTS' distribution
      network (March)

    - Placement of two ruble-denominated bonds worth RUB 15 billion each
      (May, July)

    - Placement of new syndicated loan facility to restructure $630 million
      loan (May, July); the loan has since been voluntarily repaid in
      advance in February 2010

    - Securing of financing from Sberbank through two loans in the amount of
      RUB 47 billion and RUB 12 billion (August-September)

    - Payment of annual dividends of RUB 20.15[5] per ordinary MTS share
      (approximately $2.96 per ADR[6]) for the 2008 fiscal year, amounting to
      a total of RUB 39.40 billion ($1,158.3 million) or approximately
      60%[7] of US GAAP net income

    - Launch of 3G in Armenia (April) and full 3G roll-out in Moscow
      (December)

    - Acquisition of a 50.91% stake in Comstar-UTS for 39.15 billion rubles
      ($1.32 billion)[8] or RUB 184.02 ($6.21) per Global Depositary Receipt
      (GDR) by a subsidiary of MTS in October; the Company increased its
      direct ownership of Comstar-UTS to 61.97%[9] through an exchange of
      shares.

    - Acquisition of a 100% stake in Eurotel (December), one of the leading
      federal transit operators in Russia, with an extensive optical fiber
      network of 19.5 thousand kilometers

    - Securing of vendor financing during the year for network development
      from various export credit agencies and financial institutions
      totaling $1,504.9 million and EUR 413 million

    - MTS continues to see sustained macroeconomic volatility in its markets
      of operations that may impact the financial and operational performance
      throughout the Group

Commentary

Remarked Mikhail Shamolin, President and Chief Executive Officer, "The year 2009 has been a transformative year for MTS. As our markets were in transition due to macroeconomic developments, we began to take a number of steps to better change our organization to meet the challenges of our evolving markets and realize the goals of our 3i Strategy. In the past year, MTS has evolved to an integrated operator through our acquisitions of the leading fixed-line operator, Comstar-UTS, and a leading transit operator, Eurotel. We are realizing our strategic need for a strong proprietary network of MTS-owned and operated distribution points, increasing our sales of handsets and expanding our retail reach. We have launched the region's first comprehensive online destination - Omlet.ru - for the latest in digital media, an important step towards delivering the necessary content and applications to our customers that will define usage in the coming years.

"Despite the challenges we faced in 2009, MTS has delivered a strong set of results that showed relative revenue growth to the market in each of our core markets and business streams. Total cash flows from operations were nearly $3.6 billion for 2009, underlying the health of the business despite the macroeconomic uncertainty in our regions of operations.

"Looking ahead, forecasted economic growth in Russia and the CIS could translate into definitive improvements in our markets of operation. We currently forecast mid to high single-digit revenue growth in local currency, driven by increased usage among our fixed and mobile subscribers, as well as the increased sale of handsets, in our key market in Russia. We expect Group OIBDA margin to be in the range of 43-45% depending on competitive factors and handset sales in our markets. And capital expenditures should fall within the range of 22-24% of revenues, most of which will be spent expanding our 3G and backbone networks in Russia and Central Asia."

This press release provides a summary of some of the key financial and operating indicators for the period ended December 31, 2009. For full disclosure materials, please visit http://www.mtsgsm.com/resources/reports/.

Learn more about MTS. Visit the official blog of the Investor Relations Department at http://www.mtsgsm.com/blog/

Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS") is the leading telecommunications group in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, offering mobile and fixed voice, broadband, pay TV as well as content and entertainment services in one of the world's fastest growing regions. Including its subsidiaries, the Group services over 97.76 million mobile subscribers in Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Belarus, a region that boasts a total population of more than 230 million. Since June 2000, MTS' Level 3 ADRs have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol MBT). Additional information about the MTS Group can be found at www.mtsgsm.com.

Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "will," "could," "may" or "might," and the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not undertake or intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We refer you to the documents MTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the Company's most recent Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk Factors" that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the severity and duration of current economic and financial conditions, including volatility in interest and exchange rates, commodity and equity prices and the value of financial assets; the impact of Russian, U.S. and other foreign government programs to restore liquidity and stimulate national and global economies, our ability to maintain our current credit rating and the impact on our funding costs and competitive position if we do not do so, strategic actions, including acquisitions and dispositions and our success in integrating acquired businesses, including Comstar-UTS, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, our competitive environment, dependence on new service development and tariff structures, rapid technological and market change, acquisition strategy, risks associated with telecommunications infrastructure, governmental regulation of the telecommunications industries and other risks associated with operating in Russia and the CIS, volatility of stock price, financial risk management and future growth subject to risks.

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    [1] Because Comstar-UTS was acquired from JSC Sistema, the majority owner
        of both MTS and Comstar, the acquisition was accounted for as a
        transaction between entities under common control. Similar to a
        pooling of interest, whereby the assets and liabilities of Comstar
        were recorded at Sistema's carrying value, MTS' historical financial
        information was recast to include the acquired entity for all periods
        presented. In addition, given the scale of the transaction, MTS has
        reallocated its headquarters' costs more equitably to its business
        units according to international practices.
    [2] See Attachment A for definitions and reconciliation of OIBDA and
        OIBDA margin to their most directly comparable US GAAP financial
        measures.
    [3] Attributable to the Group.
    [4] See Attachment B for reconciliation of free cash-flow to net cash
        provided by operating activity.
    [5] The dividend yield per share is 8.0%. No dividend was paid on the
        37,762,257 shares that were acquired by MTS as part of the mandatory
        buyback in September 2008.
    [6] According to the Russian Central Bank exchange rate of 34.0134
        RUB/USD as of March 31, 2009. The dividend amount is set in Russian
        rubles by the Board of Directors; U.S. dollar amounts provided for
        reference using the foreign exchange rates as of March 31, 2009.
    [7] Dividend payout ratio based on MTS only.
    [8] As transactions between Russian entities must be carried out in
        rubles, MTS hedged the final amount due on completion of the
        transaction with 50% of the sale price pegged at 31.9349
        rubles:dollar rate, while the balance has been calculated at 29.6090,
        the official rate of the Central Bank of Russia on the date of
        signing.
    [9] Through cross-holdings between Comstar-UTS, Svyazinvest and MGTS,
        MTS' effective stake is 65.19%.


    For further information, please contact in Moscow:

    Joshua B. Tulgan
    Director, Investor Relations
    Mob: +7-985-220-4208

    Department of Investor Relations
    Mobile TeleSystems OJSC
    Tel: +7-495-223-2025
    E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Mobile TeleSystems OJSC