Telenor Group has revealed the financial performance including revenue, profit, Opex and Capex during the second quarter of 2019.
Telenor revenue rose 2 percent to NOK 28 billion. Subscription and traffic revenues fell 1 percent on an organic basis in the second quarter.
Telenor’s subscription & traffic revenue growth performance was –0.1 percent in Norway, –3.8 percent in Sweden, –5.5 percent in Denmark, +4.9 percent in Thailand, –1.5 percent in Malaysia, +21.7 percent in Bangladesh, –13.8 percent in Pakistan and –13.1 percent in Myanmar.
Telenor’s mobile ARPU rose 2 percent to NOK 330, while fixed broadband ARPU grew 3 percent to NOK 383.
Telenor’s mobile ARPU was NOK 330 (+2 percent) in Norway, NOK 204 (–5 percent) in Sweden, NOK 115 in Denmark, NOK 252 in Thailand, NOK 39.6 (–3 percent) in Malaysia, NOK 159 (+2 percent) in Bangladesh, NOK 195 (–2 percent) in Pakistan and NOK 4379 (–10 percent) in Myanmar.
Gross profit increased by NOK 0.1 billion.
Telenor’s Opex increased by NOK 0.3 billion or 3 percent. Telenor achieved Opex reductions driven by improvements in sales & marketing and operation & maintenance.
Telenor’s EBITDA before other items was NOK 11.1 billion with an EBITDA margin of 40 percent. When adjusting for the provision in Bangladesh, EBITDA decreased by 1 percent on an organic basis.
Net income of Telenor was NOK 3.1 billion.
Capex excluding licences and spectrum was NOK 4.1 billion, resulting in a Capex to sales ratio of 15 percent in Q2 2019. NOK 3.6 billion was the Capex spending during the second quarter of 2018.
Telenor’s Capex was NOK 1,378 million in Norway, NOK 330 million in Sweden, NOK 120 million in Denmark, NOK 637 million in Thailand, NOK 538 million in Malaysia, NOK 384 million in Bangladesh, NOK 395 million in Pakistan and NOK 120 million in Myanmar.
Telenor is preparing 5G network roll outs through pilots and network upgrades. Telenor said there is good traction on fibre rollout and copper infrastructure replacement, which will enable customers to connect faster and more reliably.
“The strategic agenda we initiated two years ago continued to bear fruit. Though organic subscription and traffic revenues fell 1 percent, the EBITDA margin was 40 percent. We saw positive revenue development and effects from efficiency and modernisation programs,” said Sigve Brekke, president and CEO of Telenor Group.
Telenor has a mobile subscriber base of 29.04 million (–2 percent) in Norway, 27.41 million (+2 percent) in Sweden, 16.59 million (–6 percent) in Denmark, 20.63 million (–5 percent) in Thailand, 11.36 million (–3 percent) in Malaysia, 75.30 million (+9 percent) in Bangladesh, 43.85 million (+1 percent) in Pakistan and 19.80 million (+4 percent) in Myanmar.
Baburajan K
