Bangkok--2 Nov--Hill and Knowlton
In the third quarter of 2009, Telenor's reported revenues increased by 4 per cent compared to the third quarter of 2008, reaching NOK 24.3 billion. The operating profit increased by 14 per cent to NOK 4.5 billion. Telenor's mobile operations added 4 million subscriptions during the quarter, reaching a total of 172 million.
"In the third quarter of 2009 we delivered a solid EBITDA margin, and revenue trends in line with the previous quarters this year. The strong EBITDA, combined with continued capex control resulted in a high operating cash flow," said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO of Telenor.
Telenor's regions
"The Nordic operations are on track to deliver on the NOK 10 billion cash flow target.
In Asia, Telenor Pakistan shows good progress towards reaching cash flow break even in 2010, while Grameenphone continued to deliver very strong results. In October, the subscription period related to Grameenphone's initial public offering (IPO) was initiated. There has been high interest related to the IPO, and trading of the share is anticipated to start in November 2009.
Our operations in Central and Eastern Europe continued to be affected by the economic downturn, however the margins and operating cash flow remained strong. During the quarter, 2008 dividends for Kyivstar were declared and will be paid within year-end 2009," Baksaas said.
Creating a leading emerging markets mobile operator
"On 4 October Telenor and Altimo entered into an agreement to create a new leading emerging markets mobile operator, VimpelCom Ltd, by combining the parties' assets in Kyivstar and OJSC VimpelCom. The new company will be headquartered in the Netherlands and we expect to complete the related transactions by mid-2010," Baksaas continued.
On track with Uninor in India
"In India the activity level is high and we are on track to launch services in the fourth quarter of 2009. During the quarter the Uninor name was announced and additional key agreements related to tower sharing, GSM equipment and national roaming were signed. On 19 October 2009, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board's recommendation to approve Telenor's shareholding in Unitech Wireless of 67.25% was approved," Baksaas said.
Cost control and improved efficiency
"We continue to scale our activities to be aligned with the current business environment. We expect that our focus on cost control and improved efficiency will enable us to deliver a slightly stronger EBITDA margin and lower investments than originally anticipated for 2009," Baksaas said.
(NOK in millions except earnings per share ; figures in brackets represent approximate value in Thai baht in millions except earnings per share) Q2 2009 Q2 2008 Year 2008
2009 2008 2008
Revenues 26 530 (154) 27 265 (158) 110 970 (644)
EBITDA before other income and expenses 10 055 (58) 10 050 (58) 38 491 (223)
EBITDA margin before other income and expenses (%) 37.9 36.9 35.0
Adjusted operating profit 6 041 (35) 6 113 (35) 22 640 (131)
Adjusted operating profit/Revenues (%) 22.8 22.4 20.6
Profit after taxes and non-controlling interests 3 489 (20) 2 995 (17) 13 065 (76)
Earnings per share from total operations, basic, in NOK 2.11 (0.012) 1.80 (0.010) 7.83 (0.045)
Capex 4 785 (27) 4 001 (23) 22 715 (132)
Capex excl. licences and spectrum 4 785 (27) 4 001 (23) 20 680 (120)
Capex excl. licences and spectrum/Revenues (%) 18.0 14.7 18.8
Operating cash flow ( EBITDA before other income and expenses - Capex) 5 270 (31) 6 049 (35) 17 811 (103)
Net interest-bearing liabilities 27158 (158) 31396 (182) 39309 (228)
For more information please refer to the quarterly report on
http://www.telenor.com/en/investor-relations/reports/q3-2009/.
"I am pleased to see that Telenor Group's Asian mobile companies performed well during the third quarter of 2009. Cash flow was again strong and revenues showed signs of picking up from the second quarter," said Sigve Brekke, Executive Vice President of Telenor Group and Head of the Telenor Asia Operations. "The Asian region has shown strong resilience during 2009 and I believe the potential is strong in several parts of the mobile business. This includes continued customer uptake across the region and new services such as mobile banking and mobile internet.”Telenor GroupTelenor is one of the world’s largest mobile operators, and one of the fastest growing providers of mobile communications services worldwide. The company is also among the largest providers of TV, broadband and telephony services in the Nordic region.
Telenor has mobile operations in some of the world's fastest growing markets as well as in the most advanced markets. The company holds altogether ownership interests in mobile operations in 12 countries, constituting a total subscription base of more than 159 million. In Asia, Telenor has ownership interests in DiGi (Malaysia), DTAC (Thailand), Grameenphone (Bangladesh) and Telenor Pakistan.
For more information, please visit www.telenor.com
For further information, please contact
Glenn Mandelid, Communications Manager, Telenor Asia
Phone (+66) 82440 1122, E-mail: [email protected]
James Rowland-Jones, Senior Consultant, Hill and Knowlton (Thailand)
Phone (+66) 02 6273501 ext 206, E-mail: [email protected]