Russia's Sistema Q4 net $466.7 mln, beats f'cast

MOSCOW, May 14 (Reuters) - Russian services conglomerate Sistema (SSAq.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday its fourth-quarter net profit reached $466.7 million, beating market expectations of $332 million.

That compares with a restated $2.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2006 which was eroded by writedowns at unit MTS (MBT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Russia's No.1 cellphone operator, stemming from MTS's attempt to obtain control of Kyrgyz mobile operator BiTel.

In the whole of 2007, the net profit rose by 93.3 percent to $1.57 billion. Sistema is controlled by its chairman Vladimir Yevtushenkoov. (Reporting by Anastasia Teterevleva and Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Tanya Mosolova)