MOSCOW, April 27 (Reuters) – Russian state car maker AvtoVAZ said on Friday it will recall nearly 100,000 new Ladas due to technical faults, delivering a blow to the firm as it tries to re-brand itself as a reliable modern car manufacturer.

AvtoVAZ, 25 percent owned by France’s Renault, said in a statement the recalled vehicles were Kalina and Granta models, two of the company’s most recent designs.

The group will recall 70,000 Lada Kalinas, Russia’s best-selling car, that were produced between October and March. That amounts to about half of the 143,000 Kalinas sold in the whole of 2011.

Around 24,000 Lada Grantas will also be recalled, just four months after the model was launched.

Granta and Kalina are just two of the new designs the company hopes will eventually replace the three-decade-old Lada Classic, a boxy model that went out of production this month.

The company said at the time that demand for the Classic – a symbol of the backwardness and decline of the Soviet auto industry – had fallen dramatically.

The Kalina, driven 2,000 kilometres across Siberia by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in a promotional stunt in 2010, overtook the Classic by sales last year after the end of a government-sponsored scrappage scheme that briefly revived the brand.

MOSCOW, April 12 (Reuters) – Russian freight firm Globaltrans, seen as a barometer of the country’s economy as it transports the natural resources and metals that are its lifeblood, sees an 8 percent rise in freight market turnover in 2012, ahead of 6 percent last year.

“Market developments are positive for the industry .. Large industrial companies are outsourcing rail transportation requirements,” Chief Financial Officer Alexander Shenets said on Thursday.

The outlook came as Globaltrans reported a 40 percent rise in 2011 profit to $317.2 million, ahead of expectations, while hiking full year dividend payments to $0.64 per share, up from $0.37 a share in 2010.

UBS analysts had been expecting net income of $254 million, which they said was in line with consensus.

Globaltrans global depositary receipts edged up 1.5 percent to $16.75 by 0833 GMT, having climbed 20 percent in the year to date.

The Russian market grew 8 percent in the first quarter, the company said.

“The expectation of the company is for market growth to be stable .. roughly 8 percent for the rest of the year,” Chief Executive Sergey Maltsev said, adding that the forecast made him optimistic for the group’s prospects in 2012.

MOSCOW, March 28 (Reuters) – Russia-focused gold miner Petropavlovsk is likely to increase its 2012 production target to reflect an increase in capacity at its flagship mines, chairman Peter Hambro said.

The company, which operates open-pit mines in the Russian far east, is forecasting a 680,000 oz production figure in 2012 - around 8 percent higher than last year – but this does not include planned expansion of the Pioneer and Albyn mines.

“That is a reasonable assumption,” Hambro said when asked if the production target would be increased during 2012.

“We learned a painful lesson on 2010 when people accused us of over-promising and under-delivering, so we have a policy that we don’t include in the forecast new (capacity) that will be put into production this year,” he told Reuters in a phone interview.

Petropavlovsk reported a 52 percent increase in the amount of gold it sold in 2011, which along with higher gold prices helped deliver a tenfold increase in full year net profit to $240.5 million.

The company said revenue more than doubled in the period to $1.3 billion, and hiked the full year dividend by 20 percent to 12 pence a share.

Hambro said the highlight for him was earnings per share of $1.24 – more than ten times the 2010 figure – which reflected improved operational management at the company.

MOSCOW, March 26 (Reuters) – Russia’s Global Ports hiked its full-year dividend more than expected on Monday and was confident that an upbeat outlook for economic growth would deliver a strong performance this year after it cut debts and increased profits in 2011.

The ports operator, which raised $588 million in a London Initial Public Offering (IPO) in June, said it would pay an additional $0.21 per Global Depository Receipt in final dividends, bringing the total for 2011 to $0.39.

“We have very low debt and enough cash to fund our capital expenditure and expansion programme,” Chief Executive Alexander Nazarchuk told Reuters, explaining the dividend hike.

The full dividend payment of $61.1 million is more than 40 percent of the company’s 2011 net profit, which was more than the company had previously said it would pay.

Net profit last year was $146.9 million, up 23 percent on the previous year. The group reduced net debt by 53 percent to $66 million during 2011.

Global Ports shares were up 2.7 percent at $15.05 by 0932 GMT in a falling market, bang in line with the IPO price of $15.

They reached $16.5 a share earlier this month, and have outperformed the majority of newly-listed Russian companies, which have a history of underperformance.

MOSCOW, March 22 (Reuters) – The Russian government’s pursuit of power generation assets abroad is frustrating investors who believe their interests would be better served by the state developing its own under-funded electricity sector.

InterRao, an $11 billion holding company for a myriad of state power assets, has said it is eyeing acquisitions in Germany, Italy and other markets in a bid to have 25 percent of what it owns outside Russia by 2015, bringing new technologies to Russia and boosting its international profile along the way.

A director’s comments that it is in talks with indebted German utility RWE about buying some of its units were received badly by the market, which has since spurned the stock in protest at its lack of domestic focus.

Its shares are down 11.7 percent in the year to date, while the MICEX power industry index is up 13.5 percent amid a strong run for Russian equities.

“I understand that InterRao management has been tasked (by the government) to proceed with global expansion. I think some of the share price underperformance could be attributed to this,” said Dmitry Mikhailov, manager of Renaissance Asset Managers’ Russian Power Utilities Fund.

“An expansion policy is not always regarded well by minority shareholders … it is not clear how a Russian company can improve the efficiency of assets such as, for example, windmills in Finland,” he added.

The push overseas has been led by Russia’s deputy prime minister and energy tsar, Igor Sechin, who chaired InterRao until ministers were forced out of state company boardrooms by President Dmitry Medvedev last year.

MOSCOW, March 16 (Reuters) – Russian state-controlled electricity group InterRao offered to buy out minority shareholders in generators OGK-1 and OGK-3, sending shares higher in both companies as investors reacted positively to the terms.

InterRao, which was handed 75 percent of OGK-1 and nearly 82 percent of OGK-3 after being selected as a home for state power assets last May, offered one new share for 0.042 OGK-1 shares and one new share for 0.025 shares in OGK-3.

For those shareholders who do not want to convert, InterRao offered 0.6816 roubles ($0.02) per one OGK-1 share and 1.136 roubles for OGK-3 stock.

Shares in OGK-1 rose 3.5 percent to 0.7438 roubles by 0745 GMT, while OGK-3 stock gained 2.0 percent to 1.2541 roubles - both above the offer price. Shares in both companies have risen sharply since news of the swap was first reported by Reuters earlier this month.

Analysts and investors have said InterRao hopes absorbing the two companies will improve its market valuation, which now sits at a discount to the sum of its parts. The group received the stakes from the government in exchange for its own shares last year, meaning the state or state-owned groups own nearly 60 percent of the stock.

The OGKs are expected to benefit from post-election reform of Russia’s electricity sector, with an anticipated hike in tariffs and higher demand as the economy grows.

InterRao also has plans to expand internationally, and hopes to carry out a secondary share placement on an overseas exchange in 2012 or 2013. It has not specified which one, but secured a technical listing in London last November.

MOSCOW, March 13 (Reuters) – The Russian government is preparing to sell stakes in an Eastern port and an electricity producer, in an early sign newly elected president Vladimir Putin will attempt to reignite a stalled privatisation program.

State investment bank VTB Capital said on Tuesday it had been told to organise the sale of a 55 percent stake in Vanino Seaport and a 25.1 percent shareholding in TGK-5 , a power producer controlled by the billionaire Viktor Vekselberg.

Both companies are on a long list of assets the government wants to privatise by the end of 2013, VTB Capital said. Russia is in the early stages of a multi-billion dollar privatisation plan aimed at raising cash to plug the budget deficit, attract foreign investment and improve operations and the efficiency of state companies.

The programme has got off to a sluggish start, with a secondary share placement (SPO) of a 10 percent stake in VTB bank the only significant completed deal.

An SPO of Sberbank and a possible initial public offering of shipping monopoly Sovcomflot were postponed last year amid weak market conditions.

Analysts have said a transparent, active privatisation programme would show that Putin was committed to a reformist agenda, that could help address a level of opposition unprecedented in his 12-year rule.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

MOSCOW, March 13 (Reuters) – Russian mobile phone group Vimpelcom forecast earnings and revenues would grow by a mid single-digit percentage from 2012-14, with its purchase of Wind Telecom last year providing a boost amid tough trading conditions at home.

The firm, which now has operations in Italy and North Africa in addition to Russia and the CIS as a result of the $6 billion deal, set the growth target for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) as well as revenue.

Vimpelcom said on Tuesday it made a net loss of $386 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, hit by non-cash items of $437 million relating to foreign exchange movements and one-off charges on operations in Vietnam and Cambodia as well as the Wind deal.

“We thought maybe there would be some one-offs relating to the Wind deal, but it is still a negative surprise … Unfortunately there is also not much growth in operations, held back by the Russian operation,” VTB analyst Victor Klimovich told Reuters.

EBITDA fell 3 percent in the fourth quarter to $2.2 billion. However, revenues rose 5 percent excluding acquisitions to $5.9 billion and mobile subscriber numbers were up 13 percent to 205 million.

“The 2011 results provide a good platform for profitable growth and improved cash flows … We expect to leverage the benefits of our increased size and capabilities,” Vimpelcom chief executive Jo Lunder said in a statement.

The firm’s strategy includes cost savings and adding subscribers in its core Russian market, where the firm has been losing market share to rivals MTS and MegaFon.

MOSCOW March 12 (Reuters) – MTS , Russia’s biggest mobile phone operator, expects a sluggish economic outlook to hold back revenue growth in 2012 after it comfortably beat market expectations with a big jump in fourth quarter net profit.

MTS, part of oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Sistema, said on Monday revenue growth was likely to be 5-7 percent this year, below the 9.1 percent recorded in 2011.

“We understand that in 2012 growth will be limited due to macroeconomic reasons. The growth we have shown in previous periods is unlikely to be characteristic of the telecommunication business in the future,” President Andrei Dubovskov said.

“We will continue to develop new (business) segments, including financial services, and we will continue to develop our existing client base through sales of smartphones and converged services,” he added.

MTS’s net income rose more than 150 percent to $393.5 million in the fourth quarter of last year, significantly ahead of the $358.2 million forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.

Analysts cited a write-off of some $140 million relating to the suspension of operations in Turkmenistan in the equivalent quarter of 2010 as one reason behind the sharp jump in profit.

“The figures are quite good, with net income 10 percent above consensus, but attention is likely to focus on the company’s guidance,” VTB analyst Victor Klimovich told Reuters.

MOSCOW, March 6 (Reuters) – Italian-controlled Russian power generator OGK-5 reported on Tuesday a worse-than-expected net profit of 4.96 billion roubles ($169 million) for 2011, hit by a cap on household electricity bills ahead of recent elections.

The company, majority owned by Italian utility Enel , had been expected by analysts to post net income of 6.44 billion roubles, according to a Reuters poll.

Chief Executive Enrico Viale said the group had struggled as growth in electricity prices — capped by the Russian government last year — had failed to keep up with the soaring cost it had to pay for wholesale gas.

Net income was still 34 percent higher than in 2010 however, due to the launch of two new power generation units.

“The combination of efficiency improvements and the completion of new units have more than offset the acceleration in growth of gas tariffs,” Viale said in a statement.

Shares in the company were off 1 percent at 1243 GMT, outperforming a 3 percent fall in Russia’s electricity index

SOP TO VOTERS