Telia Company posted its interim report for January-June 2016. Net sales in local currencies, excluding acquisitions and disposals, declined 1 percent.
Article continues below
In reported currency, net sales declined 2.0 percent to SEK 21,130 million (21,558). Service revenues in local currencies, excluding acquisitions and disposals, declined 0.2 percent.
EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, increased 5.1 percent in local currencies, excluding acquisitions and disposals. In reported currency, EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, increased 4.1 percent to SEK 6,389 million (6,136). The EBITDA margin, excluding non-recurring items, rose to 30.2 percent (28.5).
Operating income, excluding non-recurring items, grew 20.1 percent to SEK 4,446 million (3,702).
Total net income attributable to the owners of the parent fell 55.8 percent to SEK 1,439 million (3,258) and earnings per share to SEK 0.33 (0.75), impacted by effects in discontinued operations. Total net income rose 5.5 percent to SEK 3,902 million (3,698).
Johan Dennelind, president and CEO, said: "The Nordic and Baltic region is very much the cradle of digitalization and has the potential to lead the way in the so called 4thindustrial revolution.
"As a New Generation Telco, Telia Company is well positioned to thrive and drive societies where we operate to take steps into the future, by bringing new and relevant services to both enterprise customers and consumers. We are excited about these opportunities!
"While transforming the company we are focused on delivering solid results in our core operations. In the second quarter, organic service revenues were flat and EBITDA increased 5.1 percent year-on-year, propelled by higher earnings in 7 out of 8 markets.
"In Sweden, service revenue growth stayed positive in the consumer segment, supported by our value loading strategy in mobile, together with further progress in broadband and TV. The new social media proposition launched in April generated good traction and contributed to a positive mobile subscription intake in the quarter.
"The fiber roll-out was further accelerated to meet pent up demand, particularly in the single-dwelling unit area. We now reach more than 1.4 million households, on track to our 1.9 million target by 2018.
"In the enterprise segment, we saw further progress in the SME & SoHo area on the back of our new service concept, but the challenging conditions remained in the large & public business.
"We are continuously broadening our ICT capabilities and aim to expand further via partnerships and M&A to drive differentiation and increase customer relevance." ■