
Reading Time: 3 minutes
The Nordic operations delivered a robust quarter with EBITDA growth in Finland and Denmark. Despite the pandemic impacting our Asian operations over the last twelve months, we have been able to adapt and deliver strong customer intake across our operations.
The recently announced merger discussions in Malaysia represents an important next step in Telenor Group's strategy to strengthen its position and create value in Asia. The new entity will have size and capabilities to meet increasing expectations and demand from a digitally connected society.
In Myanmar, we see an irregular, uncertain, and deeply concerning situation. Since the military coup on 1 February 2021, Telenor's focus has been on the safety and security of our employees, access to services for customers and continued transparency. Prolonged mobile internet restrictions have severely impacted the people of Myanmar and the country's economy, illustrating the importance of connectivity services. Telenor calls on the authorities to immediately reinstate unimpeded communications and respect the right to freedom of expression and human rights.
Due to the worsening of economic and business environment outlook and a deteriorating security and human rights situation, we see limited prospects of improvement going forward. Based on this, we have fully impaired Telenor Myanmar with an amount of NOK 6.5 billion in the quarter.
With limited visibility on the development in the country, we have excluded Myanmar from our outlook. For the full year 2021, excluding Myanmar, we re-iterate the expectation of organic subscription and traffic revenues and EBITDA to remain around the 2020 level and a capex to sales ratio of 15-16%.
Sigve Brekke, President and CEO, Telenor Group
KEY FIGURES TELENOR GROUP First quarter Year
NOK in million 2021 2020 2020
Revenues 28,873 30,953 122,811
Organic revenue growth (%) -1.6 1.5 -2.3
Subscription and traffic revenues 21,715 23,867 93,439
Organic subscription and traffic revenue growth (%) -4.0 1.8 -1.9
EBITDA before other income and other expenses 13,015 14,106 56,520
Organic EBITDA growth (%) -2.2 2.6 1.7
EBITDA before other income and other expenses/Revenues (%) 45.1 45.6 46.0
Net income attributable to equity holders of Telenor ASA -3,889 698 17,341
Capex excl. licences and spectrum 3,745 3,079 16,351
Total Capex 4,284 3,385 21,692
Free cash flow before M&A 2,992 2,664 12,542
Total Free cash flow 3,834 3,775 20,855
Mobile subscriptions Change in quarter/Total (mill.) 5.0 -0.4 181.8
First quarter 2021 summary[1]
The Group's mobile subscriber base grew by 5 million, including 2 million added in Myanmar. The subscriber base was 187 million at the end of the quarter.
Subscription and traffic revenues decreased by 4% on an organic basis. Total reported revenues were NOK 28.9 billion, a decrease of NOK 2.1 billion.
Currency adjusted opex decreased by NOK 0.7 billion, or 7%. Reported opex decreased by NOK 1.1 billion.
Organic EBITDA decreased by 2%, as the decline in subscription and traffic revenues was only partly offset by the reduction in operating expenses. Reported EBITDA before other items was NOK 13.0 billion and the EBITDA margin was 45%.
Capex excluding licences and spectrum was NOK 3.7 billion, yielding a capex to sales ratio of 13%.
Reported net income was negative NOK 3.9 billion. Decrease in operating profit due to the impairment of Telenor Myanmar of NOK 6.5 billion and higher taxes were only partly offset by positive development in net financial items.
Total free cash flow was NOK 3.8 billion.
Leverage decreased to 1.8x at the end of the first quarter from 2.0x at the end of the previous quarter.
On 1 February 2021, the military of Myanmar declared a state of emergency and the overall situation is unstable. Due to the worsening of economic and business environment outlook and a deteriorating security and human rights situation, we see limited prospects of improvement going forward. As a consequence, an impairment loss of NOK 6.5 billion was recognised related to Telenor Myanmar.
[1] Please refer to Definitions on page 25 for descriptions of alternative performance measures.
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...
08/09/2026
Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has announced a multi-year agreement with A E...
08/09/2026
Spectra Logic today announced the availability of Media Insight, a new capabilit...
08/09/2026
Rogers Communications and Quebecor have announced a 12-year sublicensing agreement for French-language national NHL games beginning with the 2026-27 season. TVA...
08/09/2026
Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies will demonstrate two integrations...
08/09/2026
Boland Communications will make the European debut of its 4K55HDR7SNB 55-inch super-narrow-bezel monitor at IBC2026 (Stand 12.C57, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced a collaboration comb...
08/09/2026
Haivision has joined the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme as part of t...
08/09/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced price reductions on its PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K models, effective immediately through Blackmagic Design resellers worldwid...
08/09/2026
AI-Media will demonstrate its LEXI Suite at IBC2026 (Booth 5.C34, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform (AIP) have announced the first live deploymen...
08/09/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate story-centric media workflows at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), connecting newsroom production, content ma...
08/09/2026
M2A Media and Ateme have announced a partnership integrating Ateme's video processing solutions into M2A Media's MediaToAnywhere platform for live sport...
08/09/2026
Ikegami will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 12.A31, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), including a Day 1 introduction of new cameras in the UNICAM XE series. Additiona...
08/09/2026
Broadcast industry analysts will be gathering plenty of insights at the 2026 IBC Show this weekend in Amsterdam, but Caretta Research has offered up some though...
08/09/2026
SENSHI and DAZN have announced a global broadcast partnership that will bring SENSHI's live events free to viewers in more than 200 markets. The partnership...
08/09/2026
New architecture built with Evertz will bring 4K HDR to Monday Night Football, N...
08/09/2026
Built for rap producers, by rap producers
Sauceware Audio, the independent plug-in company founded by Grammy-nominated producer Jacob (Travis Scott, 21 Sava...
08/09/2026
Classic Sound Techniques design revived
Warm Audio's latest release delivers a meticulous recreation of the preamp circuitry employed by the Sound Techn...
08/09/2026
Latest soft synth inspired by the Memorymoog
XILS Lab have just launched a software instrument that draws its inspiration from Moog's iconic Memorymoog,...
08/09/2026
The Airport Chaplain takes off as SBS's biggest launch of 2026
8 September, 2026
Media releases
1.67 million viewers on National Total TV to date
Best...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Mo-Sys, the world-leading developer of virtual production, camera robotics and image tracking technology, has completed a business restructuring, which has incl...
08/09/2026
New York, September 8, 2026 The TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure developed by Telef nica's Audiovisual Services area re...
08/09/2026
Expanded Riyadh operation brings Asharq and Thmanyah services together on a resilient on-premises Pebble platform.
Pebble, the leading automation, content mana...
08/09/2026
Techex, a pioneering leader in live video workflows, will showcase its broadest software feature set to date at IBC 2026 (Stand 2.B45), extending its lead in so...
08/09/2026
Visitors to Grass Valley's booth at IBC2026 will be introduced to new Framelight X capabilities that connect content acquisition, management, editing and pu...
08/09/2026
BCNEXXT will showcase the latest evolution of Vipe at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B09), introducing a series of innovations designed to deliver higher-quality audience exp...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Ad Insertion Platform (AIP), a leading innovator in advanced ad insertion technologies, to...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics and augmented and virtual production, is announcing a major package of enhancements to its Suite 7 soft...
08/09/2026
Big Blue Marble is supporting TDF, French infrastructure and network operator, broadcasting Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and radio services, as a techno...
08/09/2026
Agents work inside a single production environment, from incoming wire copy to a live studio show...
08/09/2026
Building on their strategic partnership, Ceeblue and Layercake make the unthinkable possible: scalable sub-second streaming over standard DRM, SSAI, and CDN wor...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics, augmented and virtual production, is completing the environment for fast-paced broadcast production wi...
08/09/2026
A SaaS portfolio built to work together, helping operators grow audiences, monetise smarter and run leaner, on their own terms
At IBC 2026 (stand 1.B49) Synam...
08/09/2026
Accedo, global provider of video streaming software and services, has been selected by PlayOn Sports, a national leader in high school sports technology, to exp...
08/09/2026
LiveU, the leader in live IP-video solutions, is enabling The Associated Press to take global newsgathering to the next stage with intelligent connectivity and ...
08/09/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced the latest evolution of it...
08/09/2026
Compact, power-efficient X Platform performance brings broadcast-grade reliability and ultra-low latency to space-constrained remote production (REMI) workflows...
08/09/2026
Zixi, the leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Kiloview, a leading provider of professional IP video encoding and decoding solutions, t...
08/09/2026
Collaboration gives content owners scalable CDN capacity and broadcasters enhanced flexibility, including for C-band transition planning
Quortex today announce...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Telos Alliance and Pluxbox Announce Dynamic Media Facility Integration Partnersh...
08/09/2026
J nger Audio Showcases Industry-First S-ADM Cloud Workflow at IBC 2026
Search
Dolby, MainConcept, Techex and J nger Audio will showcase the industry's ...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Sky Go gets a major upgrade for Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers
Today, Sky launches a new version of the Sky Go app for Sky Glass ...
08/09/2026
Documentary thriller simulating a Russian attack on UK soil will culminate in a live final episode reuniting the playersTuesday 8 September 2026
Trailer releas...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Jamie Demetriou and Amelia Dimoldenberg to host next t...
08/09/2026
Wuppertal September 8, 2026
Riedel Introduces New OnAir Headset PlatformRiedel Communications today announced the launch of its new OnAir headset platform, a...