Veon sells Armenia unit for $51M, hails 4G subs rise

Veon closed a deal to sell its Armenia subsidiary to Team for $51 million, which co-CEO Sergi Herrero (pictured, left) explained advanced a strategy of focusing on key markets, as the operator highlighted 4G user growth during Q3.

Herrero told Mobile World Live the Armenian exit was prompted by “the size of the operation” and uncertain market conditions, adding the move is in line with Veon’s goal to divest smaller units in favour of increased focus on its “key markets”.

In June, Veon confirmed it entered talks with Team regarding a potential transaction in Armenia, a move rival Ucom then challenged [1] claiming it broke confidentiality agreements signed during its own negotiations with Veon [2].

Herrero said the transaction is expected to be finalised in the current quarter.

Q3 results
Veon recorded revenue of $1.9 billion, down 10.4 per cent year-on-year “mainly due to currency headwinds”. It recorded a net loss attributable to shareholders of $620 million versus a $35 million profit in Q3 2019.

Its total 4G user base grew by 8 million in the recent quarter, with Herrero noting this brought additions in the 12 months to end-September to 20 million, for a total of 73 million.

The co-CEO explained “continuing investment on 4G rollout, improvement of our services that add value” and doing these in a “very efficient and scalable manner” had been watchwords of its Q3 strategy.

Co-CEO Kaan Terzioglu (pictured, right) said the company generated month-on-month improvements in subscriber numbers and revenue across all of its operations over the last six months.

While acknowledging the impact from the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, especially on roaming revenue due to lockdowns, he noted Veon was back to registering annual gains after it managed to “close the V-shape” in terms of economic recovery in September.

Going forward, Herrero stated the company will continue efforts in expanding non-connectivity assets including financial services and content across its markets.

[1] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/top-three/ucom-moves-to-block-veon-armenia-sale
[2] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/top-three/veon-drops-armenia-business-sale-talks

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