The Group delivered FY 2020 results in line with guidance, with full-year revenue of USD 7,980 million (down 1.6% YoY in local currency) and EBITDA Adj. of USD 3,453 million (down 2.1% YoY in local currency). Capex intensity of 23.7% was within guidance range and Group Net Debt/EBITDA of 2.3x (post IFRS) is in line with the Group’s medium-term target of 2.4x
4Q20 Group revenue returned to growth in local currency terms, rising by 1.4% YoY. Encouragingly, almost all operations saw improved YoY trends in the quarter compared to 3Q20, demonstrating resilience to COVID-19 restrictions across our markets. Reported revenue decreased by 11.3% YoY mainly due to currency movements
Over the course of the year we have seen a new leadership team led by Alexander Torbakhov being established in Beeline Russia. Supported by the newly formed local board of directors, this team has been executing on the operational turnaround. Beeline Russia recorded steady improvement in local currency revenue trends throughout the second half of the year, with an encouragingly positive YoY revenue trend in December (+3.6%)
The Group EBITDA for 4Q20 increased by 0.8% YoY in local currency terms, an encouraging improvement led in particular by the strong double-digit EBITDA growth from Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Reported Group EBITDA was down 11.6% YoY due to adverse currency movements during the period
We successfully implemented our investment plans, with total operational capex of USD 1,889 million, supporting the expansion of our 4G customer. The combined 4G population coverage of our subsidiaries reached 73% with an increase of 19 pp over the year. This strong growth in 4G subscribers will be instrumental in driving both the continued growth in the core business and in enabling our digital services
Driven by targeted network investments and other customer care measures the Group’s 4G user base increased by 20 million YoY and 5 million QoQ, bringing the total 4G user base to 80 million. The Group recorded a QoQ increase in its total subscribers, which grew by 1.7 million in 4Q20 to 213.5 million