
Reading Time: 3 minutes
In the quarter, Telenor reported a 2 percent decline in subscription and traffic revenues due to a continued roaming shortfall and lower sales in Asia. However, this development was more than compensated by an opex reduction of 8 percent, resulting in an EBITDA growth of 4 percent and free cash flow of NOK 4 billion.
The results from the Nordic operations were strong this quarter. Telenor Norway delivers a unique combination of innovation and modernisation to their customers and see strong intake on their new speed based price plans. I am pleased to see increasing subscriber bases in Finland, Denmark and Sweden.
In Asia, Pakistan and Bangladesh show strong subscriber growth this quarter. Also this quarter we saw some impact from the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, primarily in Thailand and Malaysia. In Thailand, we experience continued effects from shortfall in tourism revenues while competition has increased in Malaysia. In Myanmar, SIM re-registrations affect the subscriber base.
Our strategy of growth, modernisation and responsible business has provided us with the ability to manoeuvre during these demanding times. We now experience a stronger EBITDA development and adjust our full year 2020 outlook to low single digit organic EBITDA growth whereas we maintain the low single digit percent decline in subscription and traffic revenue and capex to sales around 13 percent.
Sigve Brekke, President and CEO, Telenor Group
KEY FIGURES TELENOR GROUP Third quarter First three quarters Year
NOK in million 2020 2019 2020 2019 2019
Revenues 30,005 28,424 91,862 81,929 113,666
Organic revenue growth (%) -2.3 0.4 -1.7 0.6 1.2
Subscription and traffic revenues 22,903 21,724 70,523 62,591 85,954
Organic subscription and traffic revenue growth (%) -2.3 -0.1 -1.4 -0.1 0.4
EBITDA before other income and other expenses 14,571 13,132 43,008 37,338 50,735
Organic EBITDA growth (%) 3.6 -7.2 2.4 -4.8 -2.7
EBITDA before other income and other expenses/Revenues (%) 48.6 46.2 46.8 45.6 44.6
Net income attributable to equity holders of Telenor ASA 4,527 -679 9,652 5,999 7,773
Capex excl. licences and spectrum 3,669 3,726 10,564 11,841 17,415
Total Capex 4,067 3,759 11,052 11,881 18,075
Free cash flow before M&A 3,895 2,789 10,554 3,283 3,831
Total Free cash flow 4,372 -11,660 11,725 -10,258 -18,998
Mobile subscriptions Change in quarter/Total (mill.) -2.1 5.2 180.3 183.4 186.0
Third quarter 2020 summary[1]
The subscriber growth in most markets, amounting to more than 4 million, was offset by the loss of 6.3 million subscribers due to the SIM re-registration in Myanmar. Grameenphone ended the third quarter with an all time high subscriber base of 77.6 million. The Group's mobile subscription base was 180 million at the end of third quarter.
Subscription and traffic revenues decreased by 2% on an organic basis, mainly driven by the continued decline of prepaid in dtac, as well as the shortfall of roaming revenues in the Nordics. Total reported revenues were NOK 30 billion. This is an increase of NOK 1.6 billion or 6%, driven by currency effects of NOK 0.8 billion as well as the consolidation of DNA.
Currency adjusted opex excluding DNA decreased by NOK 0.7 billion or 8%, as a result of opex reductions across most business units as well as Corporate Functions. Reported opex was stable, as underlying cost reductions offset the increases related to the consolidation of DNA and currency development.
EBITDA before other items grew by 4% or NOK 0.5 billion on an organic basis, as the substantial opex reductions were able to mitigate the revenue loss. Reported EBITDA before other items was NOK 14.6 billion and the EBITDA margin was 49%.
Free cash flow before M&A was NOK 3.9 billion. Total free cash flow was NOK 4.4 billion. Capex excluding licences and spectrum was NOK 3.7 billion, yielding a capex to sales ratio of 12%.
[1] Please refer to Definitions on page 26 for descriptions of alternative performance measures. Some of the comments on the Group's financial results for the third quarter 2020 are made excluding DNA. Please refer to page 9 for the Group's consolidated figures in NOK for DNA.
Media contact: Tormod Sandst | tormod.sandsto@telenor.com | tel: +47 90 94 32 15
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...
23/07/2026
Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026
Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...
23/07/2026
RT Commercial today announced Honda as sponsor of Today with David McCullagh RT Radio 1, weekdays 9am 11am.
Broadcasting directly after Morning Ireland in ...
23/07/2026
RT News is pleased to announce Barry Gallagher has been assigned as the new journalist covering news from Cork, Kerry and the wider Southern region
Working al...
23/07/2026
Lock in and load up the cloud. GFN Thursday brings fresh updates and new adventu...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang today visited the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, to commission an NVIDIA DGX GB300 system - bringing one...