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TeliaSonera Q3 Profit Down, Despite Higher Sales; Backs Cautious Sales Forecast(dpa-AFX International Compact Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) STOCKHOLM (dpa-AFX) - Swedish telecommunications firm TeliaSonera AB (0H6X.L, TLSNY.PK) reported Friday lower profit in its third quarter with higher one-time costs, despite flat margin and higher net sales. The company also backed its fiscal 2014 forecast for lower sales and flat margin. The company's third-quarter net income attributable to owners of the parent company decreased 12.2 percent to 4.073 billion Swedish kronor from 4.641 billion kronor last year. Earnings per share fell to 0.94 krona from 1.07 kronor. The latest results included non-recurring items of negative 933 million kroner, compared to last year's negative 591 million kroner. Net sales were 25.464 billion kronor, 0.2 percent higher than last year's 25.416 billion kronor. Net sales in local currencies, excluding acquisitions and disposals, decreased 2 percent from last year. Service revenues, meanwhile, increased 1.5 percent year-over-year to 23.17 billion kroner. In Sweden, net sales increased 1.1 percent and region Eurasia posted 3.3 percent growth in sales, while in Europe, sales dropped 2.8 percent. The number of subscriptions in the subsidiaries increased 0.4 million from the end of the third quarter of 2013 to 72.4 million. During the third quarter, the total number of subscriptions increased 1.1 million. Operating income, excluding certain non-recurring items, decreased 5.9 percent to 7.27 billion kroner, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization or EBITDA before items, edged up 0.2 percent to 9.44 billion kroner. President and CEO Johan Dennelind said, "Operational performance remained stable in the third quarter, with organic service revenues and underlying EBITDA almost unchanged compared to the corresponding period last year, resulting in a flat EBITDA margin of 37.1 percent." Looking ahead, TeliaSonera said its group outlook for 2014 is unchanged. Net sales in local currencies, excluding acquisitions and disposals, are expected to be slightly below the level in 2013. While announcing its second quarter results back in July, the company had trimmed its net sales forecast from previously expected flat sales, citing lower revenues in Spain, mainly equipment related. The EBITDA margin, excluding non-recurring items, is expected to be around the same level as in 2013 when it was 35 percent. The company also continues to project CAPEX-to-sales of around 15 percent.TeliaSonera further said it will invest an accumulated amount of up to 4-5 billion kroner during 2015 and 2016 to further drive growth and improve competitiveness, primarily through accelerating the Swedish fiber roll-out, establishing new offerings in the enterprise segment and upgrading data networks in Eurasia. In Sweden, the company aims to increase the number of households reached by TeliaSonera's fiber services to 1.9 million from 1.1 million between 2014 and 2018. Regarding its cost savings, the company noted that an accumulated amount of 2 billion kroner will be invested in business transformation in 2015 and 2016 to reach net savings with a yearly run rate of 2 billion kroner during 2017. In Stockholm, TeliaSonera shares gained 0.55 percent on Thursday, and settled at 46.06 kroner. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX |