Telenor tops Q3 profit expectations, narrows 2023 outlook
OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor on Wednesday reported third-quarter earnings above expectations, supported by growing mobile service revenue and lower energy prices in the Nordics, and narrowed its full-year projections.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for July-September rose 1.5% on an organic basis to 9.3 billion Norwegian crowns ($834.2 million), while analysts on average had expected 9.1 billion.
"The third quarter was strong ... We delivered solid growth and earnings momentum in the Nordics and saw firm traction for synergy realisation in Asia," CEO Sigve Brekke said in a statement.
Telenor's Nordics service revenue grew 4% and EBITDA by 8% in the quarter. The operator now expects this business to show organic growth of above 3% in service revenues this year against a previous guidance for "low-to-mid single-digit growth".
Similarly, it expects EBITDA to grow by 3-4% this year, which earlier was also seen at "low-to-mid single-digit growth".
Telenor reiterated it expects capital expenditure in the Nordics to be around 17% of revenues for the period.
The operator, which has about 158 million customers across the Nordic region and Asia, announced last year it was considering a stock market listing of its Asian unit.
It completed a $15 billion merger last year to form a telecoms leader in Malaysia, and this year it finalised an $8.6 billion tie-up in Thailand.
($1 = 11.1481 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Victoria Klesty; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Janane Venkatraman)
