VEON expects “material” impairments to Russian, Ukrainian assets in 2022

(Reuters) – VEON anticipates “material” impairment charges this year from the war in Ukraine, its second biggest market, but it still has to assess them, the Amsterdam-listed mobile operator said on Thursday.

“We anticipate that we will report material impairment charges with respect to assets in Ukraine and/or Russia during 2022, unless there is a significant improvement in the current underlying conditions, including a lasting resolution of the ongoing conflict,” the company said in an earnings statement.

However, the uncertainty over the current situation meant these charges were “not as of yet determinable”, the company added, specifying that its ability to obtain relevant data required to build a business plan also played a role.

Such charges would not have an impact on the group’s cash flow, it added.

VEON reported first-quarter revenues rising 9.8% in local currency terms but slipping 0.4% in dollars, the currency it reports in, to $1.82 billion, mostly due to the depreciation of the rouble.

In Russia, its biggest market where it operates the Beeline mobile brand, revenue and core earnings (EBITDA) also grew in local currency but the exchange rates made it report a decline in dollar terms. Ukraine earnings grew in both cases.

(Reporting by Piotr Lipinski in Gdansk; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Muralikumar Anantharaman)