OSLO: Telenor Group announced during the quarter ended December 31, 2019, subscription and traffic revenues increased by 2% and operating expenses decreased by 6%. As a result, EBITDA improved by 5%.
“In Norway, growth in mobile revenues continued with further ARPU improvement, and we were able to offset copper revenue decline with growth in fibre and fixed wireless access. One of our top priorities this year has been to return to growth in Thailand and Myanmar, and it is therefore reassuring to end the year with good performance in both markets,” a news release said.
The positive developments in these markets were partly offset by price pressure in Sweden and a still challenging situation in Pakistan. “In Bangladesh, we were able to serve our customers with innovative and high quality services despite 2019 being a year with an increasingly demanding business environment”.
“During the year our customer base increased by 12 million, resulting in a total base of 186 million. Throughout 2019, we have continued our strategic journey set out at the Capital Markets Day in 2017 with clear ambitions. Delivering on these ambitions over several years has given us the flexibility to further develop our portfolio, resulting in the acquisition of DNA in Finland in 2019. In accordance with our dividend policy, we will propose an ordinary dividend of NOK 8.70 per share for 2019”.
“Entering 2020, we will continue to focus on growth, efficiency and simplification, expecting organic subscription and traffic revenue growth of 0 to 2% and organic EBITDA growth of 2 to 4%, supported by continued modernisation efforts. The capex to sales ratio, excluding licences and spectrum, is expected to be around 15%,” says Sigve Brekke, President and CEO of Telenor Group.
Edited by Javed Mirza