Moscow, Russian Federation — October 15, 2004 — Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (“MTS” — NYSE: MBT), the largest mobile phone operator in Russia and the CIS, announces the following dividends information to its ADR holders.
As reported earlier, MTS’ Annual Shareholders Meeting held on June 24, 2004 approved an annual dividend for 2003 of 3.20 Roubles per ordinary share of MTS (64.04 Roubles per ADR, or approximately $2.20 per ADR at the official exchange rate on June 24, 2004), a total dividend payout of 6.38 billion Roubles (approximately $219.95 million at the official exchange rate on June 24, 2004). This amount equalled 48.0% of the Company’s net income in 2003 under RAS and 42.5% of its net income under US GAAP. The record date for ADR holders was May 11, 2004.
In accordance with Russian tax legislation, MTS withheld a 15% tax on the 2003 dividend. Consequently, ADR holders as of the record date will receive approximately $1.871 per ADR.
MTS transferred to JP Morgan, the depositary for its ADR program, funds to be paid to ADR holders eligible for dividends in two parts — the first on September 30, 2004, and the second on October 14, 2004. The first payment totalled approximately 27.48 Roubles or $0.94 ($1.11 gross of taxes) per ADR2, while the second payment totalled approximately 26.96 Roubles or $0.93 ($1.09 gross of taxes) per ADR3. MTS’ ADR holders as of the record date are entitled to receive dividends from both payments. JP Morgan has distributed the first payment to eligible ADR holders and will distribute the second payment at a later date to be determined.
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The exact amount depends on Roubles/$ exchange rate on the date of the dividend payment. |
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All ADR amounts are rounded to two decimal points for the purposes of this note. |
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At the official exchange rate of 29.11 Roubles/$ on October 14, 2004. The actual dividends amount depends on the exchange rate at the time of the payment. |
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For further information contact:
Mobile TeleSystems, Moscow
Andrey Braginski
Investor and Public Relations
tel: +7 (095) 911-65-53
e-mail: ir@mts.ru
ADR Customer Service
JP Morgan
tel: +1 (781) 575-4328 |
Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (“MTS”) is the largest mobile phone operator in Russia and the CIS. Together with its subsidiaries, the Company services over 26.6 million subscribers. The regions of Russia, as well as Belarus, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, in which MTS and its subsidiaries are licensed to provide GSM services, have a total population of approximately 225.8 million. Since June 2000, MTS’ Level 3 ADRs have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol MBT. Additional information about MTS can be found on MTS’ website at www.mtsgsm.com.
Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of MTS, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “will,” “could,” “may” or “might,” and the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. We refer you to the documents MTS files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the Company’s most recent Form 20-F/A. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned “Risk Factors” that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, potential fluctuations in quarterly results, our competitive environment, dependence on new service development and tariff structures, rapid technological and market change, acquisition strategy, risks associated with telecommunications infrastructure, risks associated with operating in Russia, volatility of stock price, financial risk management and future growth subject to risks. |
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