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TeliaSonera Q2 Profit Declines, Trims FY14 Net Sales View; Stock Down(dpa-AFX International Compact Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) STOCKHOLM (dpa-AFX) - Shares of TeliaSonera AB (0H6X.L, TLSNY.PK) declined around 2 percent in Stockholm after the Swedish telecommunications firm reported Thursday a decline in second-quarter profit on weak net sales, and revised its fiscal 2014 net sales outlook downward. President and CEO Johan Dennelind said, "As a result of lower revenues in Spain, mainly equipment related, we revise our full-year organic net sales outlook from previously flat to slightly below the level in 2013. We reiterate our forecast of EBITDA margin at around last year's level and CAPEX-to-sales of around 15 percent." For the second quarter, net income attributable to owners of the parent company slid 12.1 percent to 3.55 billion Swedish kronor or 0.82 kronor per share from 4.03 billion kronor or 0.93 kronor per share last year. Quarterly operating income before items fell 10.4 percent to 6.35 billion kronor, impacted by lower income from the associated companies MegaFon and Turkcell. Excluding non-recurring items, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization or EBITDA decreased 1 percent to 8.84 billion kronor, while EBITDA margin, excluding special items, was stable at 35.3 percent. Net sales edged down 1.2 percent to 25.02 billion kronor from 25.31 billion kronor last year. Excluding acquisitions and disposals, net sales in local currencies slid 1.2 percent. The company noted that net sales continued to be affected by lower equipment sales, while group service revenues were stable. Service revenues slipped 0.6 percent from last year to 22.77 billion kronor. In Sweden, net sales remained stable and underlying EBITDA margin improved slightly to 39.8 percent, supported by solid consumer operations and cost saving activities. In region Europe, net sales in local currencies decreased 6.6 percent, while Eurasia net sales grew 6.7 percent. In Europe, the company noted that its key priority is to improve competitive positions in Nordic and Baltic markets. The company said it is reviewing future presence in the Spanish market, as the business remains sub-scale with a market share around 7 percent, and competition is fierce, forced by a strong convergence trend that puts pressure on mobile-only business. The number of subscriptions in the subsidiaries increased by 0.3 million to 71.4 million. During the second quarter, the total number of subscriptions increased by 0.2 million. Looking forward, TeliaSonera said currency fluctuations may have a material impact on reported figures in Swedish krona. In Stockholm, TeliaSonera shares were losing 1.15 kronor or 2.24 percent and trading at 50.15 kronor. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX |