Kyivstar Group NASDAQ: KYIV reported quarterly revenue of $339 million, up more than 19% year over year, as growth in its telecom operations and expanding digital ecosystem led the company to raise its full-year outlook for a second time.
CEO Oleksandr Komarov said EBITDA increased nearly 14% to $188 million, while equity free cash flow rose more than 32% to $104 million. The company’s digital revenue increased 83% year over year to $74 million and represented 21.7% of total revenue, compared with just over 14% a year earlier.
“Our telecom core is resilient. Our digital ecosystem keeps scaling,” Komarov said. “The two businesses fit each other.”
Telecom growth driven by customer value and usage
Telecom and infrastructure revenue rose nearly 9% to $265 million, generating EBITDA of $157 million at a 59% margin. Digital operations produced $31 million in EBITDA, representing a 42% margin.
Kyivstar’s mobile subscriber base declined nearly 3% from a year earlier to 21.8 million customers. Komarov attributed the decline primarily to customers discontinuing secondary, lower-revenue SIM cards, as well as demographic trends and seasonality. He said the company’s market share remained steady at approximately 47% based on internal and third-party estimates.
Management emphasized customer quality over subscriber volume. Annualized churn declined by almost one percentage point to just over 14%, while mobile average revenue per user, or IRPU, increased more than 11% to $3.90. Monthly data usage per customer rose more than 18% to nearly 15 GB, and 4G penetration exceeded 70%.
Fixed broadband customers increased nearly 11% to 1.3 million households. Nearly half of those households also subscribe to Kyivstar TV, according to Komarov.
The company reported 8.1 million multi-play customers, up almost 24% year over year. These customers use voice, data and at least one digital application. Multi-play customers generated monthly ARPU of $5.80, compared with $3.90 for mobile-only customers, and also had lower churn, Komarov said.
Digital ecosystem expands across mobility, health and entertainment
Uklon, Kyivstar’s mobility platform, generated nearly $33 million in quarterly revenue, up more than 50% year over year, and more than $12 million in EBITDA. Active Uklon customers grew 8% to 5.2 million, while rides increased more than 4% to 43 million and deliveries rose almost 26% to 1.4 million.
Komarov said Uklon’s reported growth included both underlying expansion in ride-hailing and delivery and a change in accounting treatment that grossed up certain business-to-business revenue. The company has agreed to acquire E-wings, an electric scooter operator serving 11 Ukrainian cities, and is piloting same-day flower delivery through Uklon Store in Kyiv.
In healthcare, Helsi served 5 million customers during the quarter and increased revenue nearly 36% to $2.4 million. Premium subscriptions more than doubled from 57,000 at the end of the prior year to more than 109,000, supported by family medical plans, health insights and distribution through Kyivstar mobile bundles.
Tabletki, the pharmaceutical marketplace consolidated in February, generated $7.8 million in revenue and $6.2 million in EBITDA. Customers booked $376 million in gross merchandise value during the quarter, while Kyivstar recognized commission and service fees as revenue. Tabletki had 6.3 million customers, 15 million average monthly bookings and more than 14,500 partner pharmacies.
Management said it is initially focused on integrating Tabletki while evaluating longer-term synergies with Helsi, including a connected consumer journey from medical appointments and prescriptions to medicine orders. Komarov said potential delivery integration with Uklon is also under consideration.
Kyivstar TV’s customer base increased almost 48% year over year to 3.6 million, with revenue reaching nearly $14 million. Komarov noted that the reported growth rate was affected by a move to gross revenue recognition in September of the prior year, though he cited customer growth and exclusive content as underlying drivers.
Starlink, AI and energy investments
More than 6 million customers have used Kyivstar’s Starlink Direct to Cell service, which now offers light data for essential applications in areas without terrestrial coverage. SMS service is included for all Kyivstar customers without an additional charge, while light data is embedded in premium plans or available for an added monthly fee.
The company is also an official reseller of Starlink fixed satellite broadband services and hardware for Ukrainian businesses and public institutions. Komarov said he does not view Starlink as a significant competitive issue for residential fixed broadband because Ukraine has high fiber penetration and terrestrial service can offer higher capacity and stability.
Kyivstar is pursuing sovereign artificial intelligence infrastructure, including Syaivo, its Ukrainian large language model. The company’s Syaivo 4B model entered beta testing during the quarter. In June, Kyivstar signed a memorandum with Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy to explore cooperation on sovereign AI infrastructure. Management said any associated investment would remain within the company’s existing capital-expenditure framework.
In May, Kyivstar completed the acquisition of six solar power plants in the Lviv region with 105 MW of combined capacity for roughly $81 million. Including its existing Sunvin 11 facility, the company now has 118 MW of solar capacity, with expected output equivalent to about 30% of its annual telecom electricity consumption.
Komarov said the solar portfolio is intended to improve energy independence and hedge electricity costs, which he described as Kyivstar’s largest single operating expense and fastest-growing cost category.
Profitability, balance sheet and updated guidance
Net profit declined nearly 6% year over year to $77 million, or $0.33 per share. CFO Taner Kızıltoprak said the decrease was driven by a non-cash $21 million fair-value charge related to listed warrants. The warrants’ fair-value liability rose to $49 million at the end of June from $28 million at the end of March.
“Without the warrant item, [net profit] would have been $98 million,” Kızıltoprak said.
Capital expenditures totaled $59 million, or 17% of quarterly revenue. The company ended June with $364 million in cash and equivalents, while gross debt excluding leases was $88 million. Excluding leases, Kyivstar reported net liquidity of $277 million.
- Full-year revenue growth guidance was raised to 21%-23% in Ukrainian hryvnia and 14%-16% in U.S. dollars.
- Full-year EBITDA growth guidance was raised to 17%-19% in hryvnia and 9%-12% in U.S. dollars.
- Capital-expenditure intensity is expected to remain at 21%-24% of revenue.
Kyivstar said it will hold its first Capital Markets Day on Nov. 16 in New York, where it plans to provide a medium-term update on strategy, ecosystem unit economics and capital allocation.
About Kyivstar Group (NASDAQ:KYIV)
Kyivstar Group NASDAQ: KYIV is a leading Ukrainian telecommunications operator that provides a broad range of consumer and business communications services. The company operates one of Ukraine's largest mobile networks and offers voice, messaging and mobile broadband services over 3G and 4G/LTE technologies. In addition to mobile services, Kyivstar supplies fixed-line broadband and home internet access, serving residential customers with connectivity and related value‑added services.
For enterprise and public sector customers, Kyivstar delivers a portfolio of business solutions that includes fixed and mobile data plans, machine‑to‑machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, and ICT services intended to support digital transformation.
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