Russian telecom major MTS today posted 38.7 per cent dip in net profit at $354 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2010.
This is against a net profit of $577.4 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2009, MTS said in a statement.
MTS is present in India through its joint venture Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL) with the Shyam Group. It uses MTS as the brand name for its services in India.
While the Russian company has a majority holding of 74 per cent, the Indian partner holds the remaining stake.
The company's revenue for the quarter increased 16.6 per cent to $2.77 billion, while the average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) declined to $245.4.
MTS has also raised its full-year sales guidance to 10 per cent on the back of higher voice and data usage.
"Given our growth in the first half of 2010 and more positive economic sentiment, we feel confident to raise our guidance for MTS Group to roughly 10 per cent for 2010," MTS President and CEO Mikhail Shamolin said.
MTS said it continues to see downward pressure on margins from retail operations in Russia, but is witnessing "good seasonal trends in rising voice and data usage, healthy contribution from handsets sales and consumption of higher-value products like voice and data roaming and long distance".
