MTS Uzbekistan’s net income fell by 4.7% year-on-year to US$30.7 million in the first three months of 2009.

OIBDA up 23.2% year-on-year to US$60.5 million in January-March 2009. The company said OIBDA margin was 59.5% compared to 61.8% in previous year. Operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) represents operating income before depreciation and amortization. OIBDA margin is defined as OIBDA as a percentage of net revenues.

The company said approximately 0.3 million new subscribers were added in Uzbekistan in the reporting period. Total number of subscribers made up 5.97 million users at the end of the first quarter, the company said. During the quarter mobile penetration in Uzbekistan increased from 44% to 47%. MTS Uzbekistan maintained its leading position with 46% share in the market.

The MOU decreased sequentially in the first quarter 2009 to 416 minutes from 520 minutes in the first quarter of 2008. Average monthly minutes of usage per subscriber (MOU) is calculated by dividing the total number of minutes of usage during a given period by the average number of our subscribers during the period and dividing by the number of months in that period.

ARPU decreased from US$8.3 in the end of first quarter of 2008 to US$5.8 in the same period of 2009. Average monthly service revenue per subscriber (ARPU) is calculated by dividing service revenues for a given period, including interconnect and guest roaming fees, by the average number of our subscribers during that period and dividing by the number of months in that period.

SAC increased sequentially from US$7 in the first quarter of 2008 to US$8.2 in the same period of 2008. Subscriber acquisition cost (SAC) is total sales and marketing expenses and handset subsidies for a given period. Sales and marketing expenses include advertising expenses and commissions to dealers. SAC per gross additional subscriber is calculated by dividing SAC during a given period by the total number of gross subscribers added by us during the period.

MTS’ expenditure on property, plant and equipment in the first quarter of 2009 totalled US$72 million in Uzbekistan. The company spent approximately US$16 million on the purchase of intangible assets in Uzbekistan.

The company said that churn rate in Uzbekistan grew from 2.8% in January-March 2008 to 6.6% in the first quarter of 2009. Churn rate is the total number of subscribers who cease to be a subscriber during the period (whether involuntarily due to non-payment or voluntarily, at such subscriber’s request), expressed as a percentage of the average number of the subscribers during that period.