Kyivstar, Ukraine's largest mobile operator, saw its revenue rise by 9.5% in April-June this year compared to April-June 2023, reaching UAH 9.425 billion. In U.S. dollars, revenue grew by 0.4% to $236 million, according to a report by parent company VEON on Thursday.

"EBITDA increased by 9.8% YoY in local currency terms (+0.8% YoY in reported currency) despite ongoing operational cost pressures in 2Q24, including electricity and fuel costs, and continued charitable donations, in addition to staff support programs," said VEON.

EBITDA amounted to UAH 5.585 billion or $140 million.

Compared to the first quarter of this year, when Kyivstar's financial performance was significantly affected by a customer compensation program following a major cyberattack in December 2023, revenue in hryvnia grew by 31.5%, and EBITDA by 54%, while in U.S. dollars, these figures increased by 26.1% and 47.9%, respectively.

Total operating revenue from Kyivstar's mobile services in the second quarter increased by 8.7% to UAH 8.77 billion, including data transmission revenue, which grew by 10.8% to UAH 5.18 billion, while fixed-line service revenue increased by 16.4% to UAH 0.56 billion.

The profitability increase was mainly achieved through the growth of mobile data transmission revenue, supported by stringent cost control measures.

Kyivstar's 4G customer base grew by 7.9% year-over-year to 14.1 million, and data usage per user increased by 11.1% to 11.3 GB per month, while voice traffic decreased by 4.5% to 540 minutes.

Overall, Kyivstar's mobile subscriber base in the second quarter of 2024 fell by 2.9% compared to the same period in 2023, totaling 23.4 million, with ARPU (average revenue per user) increasing by 11.5% to UAH 122.90.

Kyivstar attributed the reduction in the overall mobile subscriber base to the number of Ukrainians living abroad.

"During 2Q24, Kyivstar recovered after the cyber-attack in December 2023 – subscriber base is back to the pre-attack level due to the successful execution of a special customer retention program," the report said.

The operator supported access to key services, including digital healthcare, information and entertainment services, resulting in a 53.0% increase in the number of Kyivstar's multiplay customers year-over-year, with multiplay revenues growing by 58.9%.

Specifically, Helsi, the country's largest digital healthcare platform, continues to power digital medicine in Ukraine, with about 28 million registered patients (+11.1% year-over-year) having access to 1,600 active healthcare institutions and more than 38,000 specialists active on the platform (+12.5% year-over-year).

Helsi mobile app downloads reached 8.2 million at the end of the quarter, helping our clients to book 2.3 million appointments through the platform during the reporting period (+27.7% year-over-year).

The media streaming service, Kyivstar TV closed the quarter with a 51.7% year-over-year increase in monthly active users (MAU).

Kyivstar said that thanks to the company's efforts, it maintained nearly 100% operational uptime of its radio network across all territories controlled by Ukraine at the end of June 2024.

Overall, VEON's revenue in Q2-2024 reached $1.03 billion, 12.1% higher than the same period in 2023, including service revenue of $987 million, which grew by 11.3% year-over-year.

EBITDA of the telecommunications holding rose by 10.6% year-over-year to $0.46 billion.

In local currencies, VEON's revenue grew by 15.1%, and EBITDA by 13.9%. Besides Ukraine, VEON's subsidiaries in Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan also showed revenue growth.

VEON's subscriber base in Q2 grew by 1% to 157.4 million. The number of 4G users during the period reached 98.4 million (an 11.2% increase). The share of 4G users in the total subscriber base rose by 5.7 percentage points to 62.5%.

The group's CAPEX rose by 5.8% to $181.4 million. The cash balance and equivalents amounted to $722 million, compared to $632 million as of March 2024. However, cash and cash equivalents fell by 70% year-over-year.

VEON's net debt at the end of Q2 rose by 17.6% to $3.2 billion.

VEON maintained its forecast for the entire 2024 year, expecting revenue growth in local currencies of 16-18% and EBITDA growth in local currencies of 18-20%.