Veon CEO Kaan Terzioglu (pictured) highlighted local currency gains by its remaining operating units during Q4 2022, though the company noted the fluid nature of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine continued to have an impact despite a move to exit the former market.

The company’s units in Ukraine, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan each made local currency gains in service revenue during Q4, with the Russian unit removed from its overall figures having been classed as held for sale and discontinued operations.

In preliminary earnings documents, Terzioglu noted the figures showed Veon’s remaining businesses “achieved significant growth, both in terms of financial performance and the operational metrics that underpin our business”.

He noted initial figures indicated continued growth in the opening months of 2023, with Veon’s “focus on operational performance as well as financial discipline” leaving it “well positioned to deliver growth while significantly deleveraging” its balance sheet and enhancing its credit profile.

The company reiterated 90 per cent of Ukraine unit Kyivstar’s network was operational by the close of 2022, with the figure having dropped to around 50 per cent at the height of Russia’s first onslaught.

But the ongoing conflict means Veon needs “more time” to finalise earnings data, it stated, explaining why figures remain preliminary for now.

While the picture in local currencies was rosy, Veon’s reported numbers highlighted the impact of the war: Q4 revenue fell 4.9 per cent year-on-year to $940 million and profit attributable to shareholders was down 33.1 per cent to $200 million.

It slipped to a full-year loss attributable to shareholders of $317 million compared with a $674 million profit in 2021, with revenue down 2.4 per cent to $3.8 billion.