Economics
Sanctions Squeezing Mail.ru Poised for Worst Annual Slump
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Mail.ru Group Ltd. is headed for its largest annual decline as international sanctions and tightening government control over the Internet hamper the operator of Russia’s biggest social networks.
Shares of the company, which reports second-quarter earnings tomorrow, have declined 29 percent this year, putting them on track for the largest slump since their debut in 2010. Mail.ru, controlled by billionaire Alisher Usmanov, rose 1.8 percent to $31.57 in London yesterday, while the Bloomberg index of the most-traded Russian stocks in New York gained 1.1 percent to 87.93. Yandex NV, the owner of Russia’s biggest Internet search engine, extended its 2014 plunge to 30 percent.