Vimpel Posts Loss; Stock Jumps

Despite the loss, Vimpel tried to highlight the good, pointing to some relatively good numbers. Operating income before depreciation and amortization jumped nearly 18% to 32.17 billion rubles in the year over and OIBDA margin leaped more than 48%. Revenues were up 30.7% based on a year over comparison, coming to 66.8 billion rubles. But that's still down 4.1% since the last quarter.

Vimpel said total mobile subscribers jumped 2.8% since the last quarter to 62.7 million. Broadband subscribers exploded in the year over period as well, increasing 184%.

"During the first quarter of 2009, the economies of Russia and the CIS countries went through a period of intense macroeconomic turmoil with a significant decline in overall business confidence, rapid currency devaluations, a drop in industrial production and rising unemployment," CEO Boris Nemsic said in an obvious, though realistic, statement today. "Looking forward, we think that the most recent macroeconomic developments, if maintained, give us reason for cautious optimism."