Improved Nordic mobile revenue trends

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We see positive trends for mobile service revenues in the Nordic region, with a growth of 4 percent in the third quarter , says Sigve Brekke, President and CEO of Telenor Group.

For the Group, high energy prices, especially in Norway, Denmark, and Pakistan, continue to be a headwind. However, the negative effects are, this quarter, countered by a reversal of sim tax provision in Pakistan, leading to 2.5 percent EBITDA growth. Free cash flow came in at NOK 5 billion, implying a cash generation so far this year of NOK 10 billion.

In September, Telenor hosted a capital markets day where the strategy and ambitions for the next three years were presented. The Group's operations and value creation will be focused around four business areas: Telenor Nordics, Telenor Asia, Telenor Infrastructure and Telenor Amp. The sale of a 30 percent stake in the newly established fibre infrastructure company in Norway, which is expected to close in early 2023 confirms the company's execution on this strategy.

In the Nordics, growth in value added services is contributing to mobile revenue growth. We see a continued trend of customers' high demand for secure connectivity in a sharply increasing digital risk environment , says Brekke.

Increased data usage was the main driver for Grameenphone's 7 percent service revenue growth this quarter, which also translated into solid EBITDA growth. In Malaysia, the planned merger of Digi and Celcom received clearance from the Securities Commission, and is expected to be completed before year-end, following approval by the companies' shareholder meetings.

With regards to the outlook for the year, Telenor maintains the expectation of low single digit growth in service revenues. Although a significant increase in energy prices is weighing on the EBITDA, a positive one-time effect in Pakistan this quarter supports maintaining the outlook of organic EBITDA around last year's level. The capex to sales ratio is expected to be in the previously indicated range of 16-17 percent.

Key figures Telenor Group

Third quarter

First three quarters

Year

NOK in million

2022

2021

2022

2021

2021

Revenues

28 428

27 411

83 473

82 087

110 241

Organic revenue growth (%)

4.5

0.3

2.4

1.0

1.2

Service revenues

21 914

21 496

64 460

63 764

84 828

Organic service revenue growth (%)

2.5

0.5

1.4

-0.3

-0.1

EBITDA before other income and other expenses

13 059

12 856

37 221

37 418

49 162

Organic EBITDA growth (%)

2.5

-2.2

0.2

0.1

-0.2

EBITDA before other income and other expenses/Revenues (%)

45.9

46.9

44.6

45.6

44.6

Net income attributable to equity holders of Telenor ASA

1 549

2 642

7 006

942

1 528

Capex excl. licences and spectrum

4 088

4 014

13 013

12 077

17 942

Total Capex

4 267

4 025

15 948

14 323

22 345

Free cash flow before M&A

3 955

6 169

7 319

11 286

11 015

Total Free cash flow

5 211

7 182

9 657

13 138

12 668

Mobile subscriptions - Change in quarter/Total (mill.)

-2.6

1.8

172.4

172.1

172.2

Third quarter summary*

Total reported revenues were NOK 28.4 billion which is an increase of NOK 1.0 billion compared to the same period last year. Service revenues increased by 2.5% on an organic basis.

Reported opex increased by NOK 0.4 billion. Organic opex increased by NOK 0.5 billion.

Reported EBITDA before other items was NOK 13.1 billion which is an increase of 1.6%. Organic EBITDA increased by 2.5 percent.

Increase in energy cost of NOK 0.4 billion impacted EBITDA development negatively by 3 percentage points which was more than offset by one-time effect related to reversal of sim tax provision in Pakistan of NOK 0.6 billion following a High Court decision in favor of Telenor Pakistan.

Capex excluding licences and spectrum fees was NOK 4.1 billion, yielding a capex to sales ratio of 14 percent.

Net income attributable to equity holders of Telenor ASA was NOK 1.5 billion for the quarter. Net income was impacted by currency losses of NOK 2.4 billion mainly as a result of strengthening of USD against NOK.

Total free cash flow was NOK 5.2 billion for the quarter, of which NOK 4.0 billion was before M&A.

The leverage ratio decreased to 2.1x from 2.2x at the end of the previous quarter mainly as free cash flow more than compensated for negative currency effects.

* Please refer to page 29 in the quarterly report for definitions and descriptions of alternative performance measures.

Media contact

David Fidjeland Director, Media Relations

Telenor Group

LINK:	https://www.telenor.com/media/newsroom/press-releases/improved-nordic-...
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