In the third quarter of 2013, Telenor Group reported revenues of NOK 26.0 billion, representing an organic revenue growth of 1%.
EBITDA before other items was NOK 9.6 billion, EBITDA margin was 37%, and operating cash flow was NOK 5.9 billion. Reported net income of NOK 3.9 billion includes currency losses of NOK 502 million, mainly non-cash.
“Telenor Group’s performance this quarter is proof of a sound business with solid earnings and margins. A record high EBITDA of NOK 9.6 billion, as well as an operating cash flow margin of 23 per cent, demonstrates our ability to create value. Our effort to capture growth remains a top priority, while we will continue to drive efficiency improvements,’’ said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO of Telenor Group.
Provide Internet access in Asia
“It is paramount for Telenor to provide Internet access with good connectivity and services for all. Only around one out of four of Telenor’s customers in Asia currently have access to the Internet, representing a vast potential for our future growth. During this quarter, subscription and traffic revenues in Asia increased by 9%, continuing its healthy trend. In Thailand and Malaysia, where the Internet is already the main growth driver, we added 240,000 and 279,000 customers, respectively. Earlier this month Grameenphone launched 3G services to customers in central parts of the city of Dhaka, marking the start of a nationwide network roll-out,’’ said Baksaas.
“In Thailand, the new 2.1 GHz network was launched in July. The migration of customers is progressing according to plan and dtac aims to have a minimum of 10 million customers on the licenced network by the end of the year. In the years to come, we expect significant cost savings and margin improvement from the transition to the licence regime,’’ said Baksaas.
Mobile data in Nordics
“During the quarter, we saw continued improvement in Sweden on the back of solid execution and implementation of data centric tariffs. The revenue development in Norway is weaker than expected. In order to secure healthy return on our high network investments, we need to further optimise data centric offers to stimulate demand for mobile data and at the same time deliver the required revenue growth. As a consequence of continued challenging market conditions in Denmark, we are now embarking upon an ambitious transformation programme which will run through 2014,” said Baksaas.
“Globul in Bulgaria was included in the Telenor Group as of August. In Myanmar, we are expecting to finalise the licence later this year with the aim of launching services in mid-2014,” said Baksaas.
Outlook
“Based on the performance in the first three quarters and the outlook for the rest of the year, we revise the outlook for organic revenue growth to 1-2% and capex to sales to 13-14%. We maintain our guidance of around 34% EBITDA margin,” said Baksaas.
Source: The Nordic Page
