TMCnet News
TeliaSonera posts near-flat EBITDA, revenues [TeleGeography CommsUpdate](TeleGeography CommsUpdate Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Swedish telecoms group TeliaSonera has posted consolidated group net sales of SEK25.464 billion (USD3.549 billion) in the third quarter of 2014, an increase of 0.2% from SEK25.416 billion a year earlier. Q3 EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, decreased 0.9% year-on-year in local currencies, but in reported (Swedish) currency the figure increased 0.2% to SEK9.439 billion (from SEK9.419 billion in 3Q13). The EBITDA margin was flat y-o-y at 37.1%. Operating income, excluding non-recurring items, decreased 5.9% y-o-y to SEK7.266 billion in July-September 2014, while net income attributable to owners of the parent company decreased 12.2% to SEK4.073 billion. CEO Johan Dennelind gave a statement: 'In Sweden, the consumer segment remains firm with positive service revenue growth, fuelled by migration to data-centric price models and solid demand for high speed fixed broadband. The fibre rollout gained further momentum in the quarter and our 4G network now covers more than 96% of the population. However, our overall performance continues to be impacted by fierce competition in the enterprise area.' The CEO added: 'In region Europe, it is encouraging that our Finnish business returned to positive service revenue growth and profitability improved, despite negative impact from reduced mobile termination rates and overall difficult macro environment. In Spain, sales growth remained impacted by lower equipment sales, but profitability improved due to lower subscriber acquisition costs and higher data contribution … In Eurasia, profitability remains solid and subscription growth accelerated, supported by positive net intake in all of our seven markets. In Kazakhstan, service revenue growth slowed in the quarter, but profitability improved due to lower costs. Currently, changes are being made on management level in the country as part of our focus to strengthen governance and operational control.' The CEO also confirmed: 'We will invest an accumulated amount of up to SEK4-5 billion during 2015 and 2016 to further drive growth and improve our competitiveness, primarily through accelerating the Swedish fibre rollout, establishing new offerings in the enterprise segment and upgrading data networks in Eurasia. In Sweden, the aim is to increase the number of households reached by TeliaSonera's fibre services from 1.1 million to 1.9 million between 2014 and 2018.' (c) 2014 PriMetrica, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |