VEON Ltd (NASDAQ:VEON) shares are trading higher on Thursday after it reported fourth-quarter 2024 sales growth of 4.7% year-over-year to $998 million (+11.1% YoY in local currency) compared to $953 million last year.

Telecom and infrastructure revenues reached $872 million in Q4 2024, up 0.8% YoY in reported currency and 5.4% in local currency. Direct digital revenues rose 42.4% YoY to $126 million, making up 12.6% of total revenue, driven by strong growth in Pakistan and Ukraine.

Total digital monthly active users across all VEON digital services and platforms jumped 27.2% YoY to 121.6 million.

EBITDA rose 14.1% YoY in local currency to $408M for the quarter, impacted by unrest in Bangladesh, the sale of TNS+ and HQ restructuring costs.

VEON reported 152 million mobile subscribers, down 2.7% YoY. The 4G user base grew 5.3% YoY to 99.2 million, with 5 million added over the past year, increasing 4G penetration to 65.3% and supporting multiplay adoption.

Since 2021, VEON has advanced its DO1440 strategy and launched AI1440 in 2024 to integrate AI in local languages across apps. By December 2024, monthly active users reached 121.6 million, boosting digital inclusion across key sectors.

As of December 2024, VEON’s multiplay customers grew 17.7% YoY to 40.3 million, making up 30.7% of the user base. Multiplay revenue rose 21.9% YoY, contributing 40.4% of total revenue.

Multiplay customer ARPU generates 3.7x higher ARPU and has 2.3x lower churn than voice-only customers.

As of December’s end, the total cash and cash equivalents were 1.691 billion, with $481 million held at the HQ level.

Buyback: VEON announced the second phase of its share buyback program, repurchasing up to USD 35 million worth of its American Depositary Shares (ADS).

Outlook: For 2025, VEON expects underlying local currency revenue YoY growth of 12%–14%, EBITDA growth of 13%–15%, and Capex intensity of 17%–19%

Price Action: On the last check Thursday, VEON shares were trading higher by 2.33% at $47.01 premarket.

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