Topic: How To Invest

Pat: What is your take on Mobile TeleSystems?

Article Excerpt

Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (ADR), $10.08, symbol MBT on New York (ADRs outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $10.1 billion; www.mtsgsm.com), is the leading mobile phone service provider in Russia and the former Soviet Union. The company has 102.4 million subscribers and operates throughout Russia and in Belarus, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Mobile TeleSystems has positive long-term growth prospects, especially as its subscribers migrate to smartphones, which generate higher fees than regular cellphones. But Russia’s conflict with Ukraine creates considerable uncertainty, mostly because Western sanctions are making it harder for Mobile TeleSystems to raise funds to invest in its networks. What’s more, Russian conglomerate Sistema owns 53.5% of Mobile TeleSystems, and Sistema’s chairman, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, was recently placed under house arrest in Russia. Mobile TeleSystems’ connection to Russia’s corruption issues through Sistema could hurt its shareholders. Mobile TeleSystems entails considerable political and currency risk. We don’t recommend the ADRs. ADRs. …