VEON Ltd.

Hello, and welcome to Vyond's full year 2024 and fourth quarter 2024 trading update call. We ask that you please hold all questions until the completion of the formal remarks, at which time you will be given instructions for the question and answer session. Also, as a reminder, this conference is being recorded today. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time. Anand Ramachandran, you may now begin.

Thank you. Good afternoon. Good morning. Thank you everyone for joining us today for Vyond's full year presentation for the period ending December 31st, 2024. My name is Anand Ramachandran, Chief of Staff and also heading the investor relations function for the group. Allow me to introduce our senior management in the room today. Next to me is Mr. Kaan Tarziolu, a group CEO. And next to him, Mr. Burak Ozer, our group CFO. Also joining on the line today is Mr. Faisal Ghori from our investor relations team in the US. Today's presentation will begin with the key highlights and business updates from Khan, followed by a discussion of financial results by Burak. We will then open up the line for Q&A. Please note that we may make forward-looking statements during today's presentation, which involve certain risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to the company's anticipated performance, guidance for 2025, future market developments, and operational and network developments and investments and the company's ability to realize its targets and initiatives. Actual results may differ materially due to risks detailed in the company's annual report on the Form 20F and other recent public filings with the SEC. The earnings release and presentation, including reconciliations of non-IFRS measures, can be downloaded from our website. With that, let me hand it over to Kanth.

Thank you. Thank you, Anand. Good morning, good afternoon, and welcome to everyone. We appreciate you joining us today for our full year 2024 results. Today, I am hosting this call from our headquarters in Dubai. We are proud to be the largest Nasdaq-listed company headquartered in Dubai. I am thankful to the Emirati authorities for proving how welcoming and easy to do business in this wonderful country. As we hold this call during the holy month of Ramadan, I would like to extend my warmest wishes to all observing. 2024 has truly been a transformative year for Vyond and let me highlight some of our achievements. First, starting with our financial performance. We have delivered strong growth. In reported US dollar terms, we delivered 8.3% revenue growth in 2024 versus our 8-10% growth expectation declared during Q3 results. Our US dollar EBITDA grew 4.9% versus our 4-6% growth expectation. We also beat our expectations in underlying local currency terms. We delivered 14.6% revenue growth versus our 12-14% expectation and 12% EBITDA growth versus our 9-11% expectation. Our local currency revenue growth outpaced both inflation and nominal GDP and highlights our ability to capture a larger share of consumer wallets in the markets that we serve at, even amidst persistent macro headwinds. Second, we are scaling our digital services with great success. Our direct digital revenues grew by 63% for the full year and grew 42% year on year in the fourth quarter. Digital services comprised 12.6% of our total revenues in Q4 and underscore our evolution into a services company with a telco license. Third, we made substantial progress in executing our asset-light strategy, which has unlocked significant value for us, as you can see on the slide. These transactions not only strengthen our balance sheet, but also align with our longer-term strategy. Last but not least, I am particularly pleased with our progress is being acknowledged by the markets. Our share price more than doubled in 2024 and is up 15% year-to-date in 2025. We announced a $100 million share buyback program in July 2024 over three years and since completed phase one with $30 million repurchased. We have successfully strengthened our cash position and are well prepared to redeem our bonds maturing this year. We are actively preparing for Kyivstar's public listing in the US, which will significantly enhance its visibility and profile. And finally, being headquartered out of Dubai with closer proximity to our markets, we will drive better efficiencies and cost savings. I am particularly pleased to note that our stock price is now back at pre-war levels. On the onset of Ukraine-Russia war in early 2022, our stock faced substantial pressure and dropped to as low as $8. However, our decisive actions in exiting Russia business and consistently executing to a clear strategy have all driven a strong recovery. Exiting Russia has also reshaped our financial profile. Predivestment, our net-to-debt EBITDA, was over three times. Now it is down to 1.3. We see a similar profile in our credit as well. The performance of our bonds is a testament to our disciplined execution in transforming our credit profile. Since 2022, our 2025 bonds have recovered nicely and our 2027 bond has nearly doubled in value. It is pleasing to note that our 2027 bonds are trading at levels comparable to higher-rated corporate bonds with similar maturity. Simply put, we have reshaped and transformed Veeon to a leaner and stronger company. Veeon is primed for agility and growth. Let us now focus on our 2024 performance. As I highlighted earlier, our revenues grew 8.3% in reported US dollar terms, a significant turnaround from previous years. Underlying local currency growth in revenues was 14.6%. I would like to emphasize that we achieved this growth despite inflation in our markets moderating through the year from 14.8% in Q4'23 to 8.2% in Q4'24. This demonstrates the potential of our markets to generate growth and strength of our operations. Looking ahead, our 2025 revenue guidance of 12-14% in local currency reflects this continued momentum as well. On EBITDA side, we reported 4.9% growth in US dollar terms. In underlying local currency terms, EBITDA grew 12%. Looking ahead, we expect 13-15% EBITDA growth in local currency terms in 2025, underpinned by strong revenue trends and disciplined cost controls. Let me now dig a little deeper to the headline numbers. As you can see on this page, our financials were impacted by certain identified items, including the cyber attack in Ukraine, political unrest in Bangladesh, and HQ restructuring costs. Additionally, our underlying growth was also impacted by the deconsolidation of TNS Plus in Kazakhstan effective fourth quarter of 2024, following the sale of this business. Adjusting for the impact of these items, like for like, U.S. dollar growth was 10% versus the headline of 8.3. Similarly for EBITDA, like for like, EBITDA U.S. dollar growth was 7% versus the headline of 4.9. We have successfully grown Veon to a $4 billion plus company in 2024. Our telecom and infrastructure segment contributed $3.6 billion to this and grew 3.8% year-on-year in USD and 7.1% year-on-year in local currency terms. Meanwhile, our direct digital revenues surged by 63% to $460 million and demonstrates the success of our digital strategy execution. We are confident that this is a trend that will sustain into the future. Our EBITDA grew $1.7 billion and as I explained earlier, 4.9% on a reported basis and 12% on an underlying local currency basis. Our capital intensity for the year was 20.6% and exceeded our guidance of 18-19. This was primarily driven by escalated investments in Ukraine amidst the war. Excluding Ukraine, our capex intensity would have been in line with our guidance of 18-19%. This higher capex also impacted our equity-free cash flow, which declined 2.2% year-on-year to $403 million. In 2024, we also made good progress in strengthening our balance sheet. Our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio is down to 1.3% as of the year-end, from 1.5 times as of Q3 and 1.4 times from the last year end. We ended the year with $1.7 billion in cash, including $481 million at the headquarters level. Since the end of 2024, we have received remaining proceeds from our TNS Plus sale and further dividends from our operating companies. I will now provide a brief overview of our revenue and EBITDA growth in underlying terms across our portfolio. Our Pakistan business was the strongest performer with revenues growing 22.7% and EBITDA growing 15.6% both in local currency terms. Ukraine delivered a stellar second half as it emerged stronger from the cyber attack. Revenues grew 13.7% and EBITDA grew 10.3% in local currency terms. Kazakhstan continues to deliver robust growth as reflected in the underlying growth trends that adjust for the deconsolidation of TNS Plus business in Q4. Uzbekistan delivers solid revenue growth, but EBITDA was impacted by a prior year one-off and elevated operating expenses from network investment rollouts. That position is well for the future of our network quality. I will share more details on this matter later. Finally, Bangladesh business was severely impacted by the political changes and unrest, and the challenging macroeconomic environment throughout the year. Excluding the impact from these, its revenue base would have been stable. Multiplay, which counts customers that use at least one digital service in addition to voice and data services, is a key feature of our Digital Operator 1440 growth strategy. Increased 4G adoption remains also being the key driver of our growth. While total 4G user base grew 5.3% year on year, it has reached 12.7% when excluding Ukraine and Bangladesh. As you can imagine, in Ukraine and Bangladesh, user numbers are impacted by specific challenges. Multiplay segment drives growth with stronger customer engagement, higher data consumption, more frequent usage of voice services, improved retention, and ARPU expansion. Our Multiplay customers continue to generate 3 to 3.5 times the ARPU as compared to voice-only customers. This increased ARPU is driven by additional consumption of data due to increasing usage of our digital applications and platforms, which enhances the customer experience. Let me now delve deeper into our digital revenue growth. These revenues are generated through our core digital services, including financial services, healthcare, education, entertainment, and enterprise services, such as advertising technologies, cloud, and software development. In 2024, our direct digital revenues reached $460 million, growing by an impressive 63% year on year, and now accounting for 11.5% of total revenues. For Q4 alone, these revenues grew 42% year-on-year and comprised 12.6% of total revenues. We expect this trend to continue as we expand our digital portfolio and capture underlying customer demand across our markets. Looking to individual countries, let's start with Ukraine. Kyivstar has delivered a strong finish to 2024. Underlying local currency growth, adjusting for the cyber attack impact, was 13.7%. Underlying EVTA grew by 10.3% despite ongoing network and utility cost pressures. We are also happy to report that all operating metrics, including subscriber numbers, minutes of usage, data consumption, and churn, are now trending positively relative to the pre-cyber attack period. Direct Digital Revenues increase 122% year-on-year, driven by Kyivstar TV, Kyivstar Cloud and Healthy, our health platform. Digital Revenues comprise only 2.4% of total revenues, which shows the significant growth potential ahead. I am pleased to inform you that Kyivstar has signed an agreement to acquire Uklon. Ukraine's leading ride-hailing business. The transaction values Uklon at 160 million US dollars and we have acquired 97% of it. Uklon also offers delivery services and advertising services. It operates in 27 Ukrainian cities and unites more than 100,000 driver partners on the platform. Uklon also recently expanded its operations to Uzbekistan. Fourth quarter of 2024 was a landmark quarter for Kyivstar. In November, restrictions on Vion's corporate rights in Kyivstar were lifted. In December, Kyivstar partnered with Starlink to bring direct-to-sale satellite connectivity in Ukraine. We have also decided to list Kyivstar on Nasdaq. Let me now take a couple of minutes to highlight why Kyivstar makes a compelling investment proposition. First, Kyivstar is a national champion recognized as Ukraine's leading digital operator and one of the most iconic national brands. Second, Kyivstar is a highly profitable entity with robust free cash flow and multiple growth levels just discussed. Third, the business is supported by a very strong balance sheet which is free of external debt and has ample liquidity. Fourth, Kyivstar's world-class management team are proven leaders with a track record of resilience through war and robust governance. Last but not least, Kyivstar's listing will offer scarcity value as the only U.S. listed vehicle for investors who want to participate in Ukraine's recovery and growth potential. Listing Kyivstar in the U.S. is independent on the successful completion. of the business combination with Cohen Circle. We are excited about this and look forward to sharing more details with you as we execute on Kyivstar's listing. Moving to Pakistan, JAS continues to deliver robust growth with revenues increasing 23% and EBITDA rising 15.6%. JAZ's telecom and infrastructure revenues grew at 11.6% in 2024, which highlights the strength of JAZ's network and innovative services. Direct digital revenues surged by 78% and contributes 24.5% of total revenues in Pakistan. Jazz cash revenues increased by a whopping 116% and Mobiling Microfinance Bank grew 32% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the strategic partnership with Engrow Corporation on infrastructure sharing, executing our asset-light strategy, will bolster jazz service-focused businesses. The transaction is going through a customary legal and regulatory approval process. Once completed, ANGRO will pay JAS $188 million and guarantee repayment of DODAR's intercompany debt of $375 million. Moving on to Kazakhstan. Headline financials reflect the deconsolidation of TNS Plus Effective Q4 2024. Excluding TNS Plus deconsolidation, telecom and infrastructure revenues grew 15.3%. Beeline's growing market share and traction is a testament to the success of its 4.9G rollout. Our performance with 4.9G networks is remarkably strong versus competitors servicing 5G networks, and we are gaining market share. Beeline's digital portfolio continued to grow robustly. Simply, our financial services platform continues to scale strongly with 145% rise in monthly active users, which I will just refer to as users here on, to 3.2 million. Cascode is our enterprise solutions company that has a team of over 800 employees that includes 400 developers and data scientists. It is one of the largest software firms in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. I wanted to particularly highlight CazCode's development and launch of CazLLM, an open-source, Kazakh-language, large-language model in collaboration with Barcelona Supercomputing Center, GSMA Foundry, and Kazakh National Research Institutions. Beeline and Cascode have already launched several AI solutions and services developed in-house which are being used internally and externally. Turning to Bangladesh, a country faced significant challenges in the second half of 2024 with macroeconomic pressures weighing on the broader economy and telecom industry. Whilst the interim government is taking the right steps after the political unrest, customer sentiment is yet to show any sustained recovery. In response, Bangla Link has strategically pivoted to optimize its distribution model and customer acquisition strategy, which is beginning to structurally lower costs without effective revenue share. Despite these challenges, direct digital revenues were 66% up as BanglaLink remains committed to its digital operator strategy. Successful launch of the AI-enabled lifestyle application Rise in November is a good example with regard to this fact. Rise recorded 220,000 users by December, just a month into the launch. Looking ahead, we are optimistic that worst of the macroeconomic impact is in the past and Bangla Link is well positioned to drive sustainable long-term growth. Turning to Uzbekistan, Beeline Uzbekistan focused on enhancing its foundations and doubling down on digital adjacencies in 2024. Revenues grew 9.4% in local currency terms. EBITDA declined by 3.7%, largely reflecting higher operating expenses from network rollouts and one of tax-related impacts in the year earlier. Digital revenues increased 21% and now compromise 4.2% of total revenues. Beeple, our financial services product, our integrated financial services platform into our super apps, scaled rapidly. In Q4, we saw the launch of a new super app, Humvee, meaning all-in-one in Uzbek language. Humvee is off to a strong start with 5 million users in a short time frame. Meanwhile, we welcome government's decision to reduce the excise tax on mobile communications industry. This development has enabled us to accelerate our 4.9G rollout, benefiting both the industry and the consumers. We look forward to welcoming the industry at GSMA Mobile 360 Eurasia in Tashkent in May. Let me explore our digital ecosystem in more detail. We continue to see strong growth across our digital platforms. Our total digital users reached 122 million, reflecting a 27% increase. Within that base, we are witnessing even faster expansion in digital-only users, growing at 37% to 29 million. This trend underscores how our digital products are rapidly gaining traction and becoming the applications of choice for customers in competitive markets. In 2024, we focused on AI with a clear focus on augmenting human capabilities and launched our AI 1440 augmented intelligence in every single minute in a day strategy. We accelerated the integration of AI-powered features in our digital applications, bringing AI to our customers in their native languages. We are going well beyond using AI just for process optimization. Starting with mobile financial services, we now have a total customer base of 38 million across our financial services platforms, an increase of 42% year on year. Let me focus on top three of these performances. In Pakistan, Jazz Cash's gross transaction value rose 64% to $34 billion, representing 9% of Pakistan's GDP. This growth was supported by a 40% year-on-year rise in total transactions and 33% rise in average transaction value per user. Jazz Cash continues to expand its retail distribution network, which now has 350,000 merchants. On average, we are now issuing more than 140,000 loans every single day. Simply, Kazakhstan's second largest digital services operator continues to scale strongly with 145% rise in users, reaching 3.2 million. In Uzbekistan, Bpool's revenues grew almost 2.3 times in 2024 and user numbers increased 3.6 times reaching 2.4 million users as of December end. Our entertainment platforms continue to deliver unique content and experiences reaching 41 million users across Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Tamasha in Pakistan remains our largest platform with 17.1 million users. TOFI is now the largest OTT platform in Bangladesh, offering linear TV. The recently concluded ICC Cricket Championship has driven a strong uptick in user numbers and engagement. Tamasha during the games registered 22 million users and Tofi registered 8.5 million users during this period. Kyivstar TV in Ukraine has shown impressive growth with users increasing by 55% to 2 million. BTV in Kazakhstan has maintained steady growth with users up 8% to 1 million. We are evolving our self-care platforms into super apps which offer a wide variety of services to all customers, including from other telecom operators, and serving them healthcare, education, entertainment, e-commerce in a single, easy-to-use platform. Our super apps are now serving 43 million customers, up 17%. Our premium digital brands are targeted at digital natives and combined advanced digital entertainment features with telecom services. These have all launched in the last 12 to 15 months and are now showing impressive traction. ROX in Pakistan has hit a million users. EZ in Kazakhstan has grown its user base to 700,000. Rise in Bangladesh has 220,000 users just a month after launch. Lastly, our healthcare platforms. In Ukraine, Healthsy leads with over 28 million registered patients, marking a 5% year-on-year increase. The platform supports more than 1,600 active healthcare institutions, 39,000 doctors and specialists, and many laboratories. An AI engine to help customers analyze the results of laboratory tests and inform on potential health risks sees a strong demand. In Pakistan, Figure Free, meaning no worries, was launched in the fourth quarter. Figure Free is an insurance and healthcare marketplace application offering a variety of insurance products and healthcare services. including e-pharmacy and doctor consultations. It is off to a great start with over 1.4 million users registered and 1.2 million active insurance policies sold. With that, I will now hand over to Burak to carry you through the financials.