25 October 2017: Once again, Telenor Group delivered a strong set of results, with an organic mobile subscription and traffic revenue growth of 3% and continued EBITDA expansion in the third quarter. The company reduced costs by NOK 0.4 billion, achieved a record high EBITDA margin of 42% and reported a strong cash flow. Net income was NOK 5.8 billion.
“We delivered a strong set of results. On an organic basis, growth in core revenues, together with continued progress on our efficiency agenda, generated a 9% increase in EBITDA. Execution of our business strategy is gaining traction. So far this year, our team has achieved cost savings of 1 billion kroner, implying that our target for 2017 has already been met and further efficiency gains should be expected going forward. The solid results, together with the proceeds from the completion of the VEON sell-down, give us a free cash flow of 9.4 billion kroner for the quarter."
"Our next steps are to continue transforming our business by focusing on digitalising the core, improving efficiency across the company and nurturing growth, where we see reassuring trends and potential. In order to further improve our services and remain competitive, we aim to leverage new technologies and make responsible use of our data for the benefit of our customers. We will maintain our focus on digitalising our networks and customer interactions, which are two aspects that we believe are critical to achieving our ambitions and ensuring that our services are value adding for our customers,’’ said Sigve Brekke, Chief Executive Officer of Telenor Group.
| NOK (in millions) | Q3 2017 | Q3 2016 | First 9 months 2017 | First 9 months 2016 | Year 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenues | 30 735 | 31 249 | 92 663 | 93 669 | 125 395 | ||
| Organic revenue growth (%) | 1 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.8 | ||
| EBITDA before other income and other expenses | 12 976 | 12 307 | 37 157 | 35 317 | 45 966 | ||
| EBITDA before other income and other expenses/Revenues (%) | 42.2 | 39.4 | 40.1 | 37.7 | 36.7 | ||
| Net income attributable to equity holders of Telenor ASA | 5 756 | (4 821) | 9 758 | 546 | 2 832 | ||
| Capex excl. licences and spectrum/Revenues (%) | 12.4 | 15.6 | 13.8 | 16.1 | 17.4 | ||
| Capex/Revenues (%) | 16.1 | 16 | 16.3 | 19.8 | 20.2 | ||
| Free cash flow | 9 426 | 9 064 | 21 539 | 8 792 | 10 300 | ||
| Mobile subscriptions Đ Change in quarter/Total (mill.) | 1.9 | -0.7 | 176 | 166 | 170 |
With effect from the first quarter 2017, Telenor India is treated as an asset held for sale and discontinued operations in Telenor’s financial reporting.
Third-quarter 2017 summary
- Total organic revenues increased by 1%. Organic mobile subscription & traffic revenues increased by 3%.
- Reported EBITDA before other items was NOK 13 billion, corresponding to a record high EBITDA margin of 42%, an increase of 3 percentage points from last year.
- Net income attributable to equity holders of Telenor ASA was NOK 5.8 billion.
- Capex excluding spectrum licences was NOK 3.8 billion, resulting in a capex to sales ratio of 12%.
- Free cash flow for the quarter was NOK 9.4 billion.
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