Telecom operator Telenor has revealed that its revenue, net income and Capex (capital expenditure) rose during 2022.
Telenor has reported revenue of SEK 25.402 billion (+1.5 percent) in Q4 2022 and SEK 98.953 billion (+2.8 percent) in 2022.
Capex excluding spectrum / license of Telenor touched SEK 4,637 million in fourth quarter and SEK 16,728 million for the full year — driven by the 5G roll-out in the Nordics,
fiber investments in Norway and network investments in Thailand.
Telenor’s Q4 Capex touched NEK 1,317 million in Norway, NEK 941 million in Sweden, NEK 277 million in Denmark, NEK 438 million in Finland, NEK 617 million in Thailand DTAC, NEK 499 million in Bangladesh Grameenphone and NEK 100 million in Pakistan.
In Finland, network modernisation program and 5G roll-out were the main drivers for Capex. At year end, the 5G network reached 80 percent population coverage in Finland.
In Sweden, the high Capex in the fourth quarter was impacted by timing effects, mainly related to mobile network modernisation, including 5G rollout.
In Denmark, Capex remained high in the quarter, primarily related to the ongoing 5G rollout.
In Norway, Capex was driven by fibre rollout and mobile network modernisation. For the full year, the capex to sales ratio was 23 percent.
Capex excluding licenses and spectrum fees was NOK 4.6 billion, yielding a Capex to sales ratio of 18.2 percent for the fourth quarter, and 16.9 percent for the full year. Telenor is targeting Capex to sales of 17 percent for 2023.
Telenor had 158.3 million customers on its mobile network in 2022 as compared with 161.9 million in 2021.
Telenor completed the merger in Malaysia establishing CelcomDigi as the market leader. Telenor sold 30 percent stake in the Norwegian fibre business. Telenor completed the decommissioning of the copper network in Norway.
“The quarter represents significant progress on our strategic roadmap towards 2025. Mobile service revenues in Telenor Nordics increased by 5 percent, demonstrating the growth potential in the region,” Sigve Brekke, President and CEO of Telenor Group, said in its earnings report.
Telenor said Opex increased by NOK 0.6 billion or 8 percent. For the full year, Opex increased by NOK 1.5 billion or 5 percent.
Increase in energy cost had an EBITDA impact of NOK 0.3 billion for the fourth quarter and NOK 1 billion for the full year. The increase translated to 3 percentage points impact on EBITDA both for the fourth quarter and for the full year.
