Mail.ru grows revenues but profits shrink amid Russian bear market
RUSSIAN internet giant Mail.ru yesterday announced reduced profits before tax for the first half of the year, down 11.3 per cent from 7.99bn roubles (£76m) to 7.08bn roubles.
Meanwhile the firm, which has 75.4m monthly users, reported increased revenues of 18.3bn roubles, up from 17.1bn roubles for the same period last year.
Russia’s continuing economic woes and global currency movements had a negative effect on the company’s balance sheet as the collapse in the price of oil continued to weigh on the country’s economy.
Dmitry Grishin, chairman and chief executive of Mail.Ru Group, said: “With the ongoing economic and geo-political situation, the overall operating environment in H1 2015 remained somewhat challenging. However, during Q2 we have seen some stabilisation in the advertising environment.
“Despite the continued challenging macro environment we have had a solid first half.”
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Mail.ru is co-owned by one of Russia’s richest man, Alisher Usmanov, and globally is one of the five largest internet companies, based on page views. Its portfolio includes online games, social networking sites and VK, Russia’s most popular app brand.
The company is currently expanding into the US and Europe with its MyMail brand.
The value of the Massive Multiplayer Online game market in Russia was valued at 28bn roubles.
The market took a favourable view of the results. While shares in Mail.ru opened slightly down on the previous day at $17.4, they were up 0.5 per cent at $17.65 at close.