FORNEBU, Norway, July 21, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- In the second quarter of 2006, Telenor's revenues increased by 37 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2005, reaching NOK 22.6 billion. The underlying revenue growth was 12 per cent and the EBITDA margin increased from 34 to 35 per cent. Profit before taxes was NOK 3.9 billion. During the second quarter, the total number of mobile subscriptions increased by six million, reaching 96 million.
"We are delivering yet another solid quarter, with high growth in revenues and increased EBITDA margin. We are very satisfied that several of our mobile operations are performing so well in their markets. In particular, GrameenPhone improved its market position by increasing the customer base by more than 30 per cent during this quarter alone," said President and CEO of Telenor, Jon Fredrik Baksaas.
Mobile operations
GrameenPhone in Bangladesh increased its customer base by more than two million subscriptions in the second quarter to nearly 8.5 million and has a market share of 63 per cent. DTAC increased its market share to 31 per cent, but is facing price erosion in the Thai market. By the end of the second quarter DTAC had more than 10.6 million subscriptions. Kyivstar passed 16 million subscriptions, adding another million subscriptions during the second quarter and maintains its leading position in Ukraine.
In the mature markets in Scandinavia the number of subscriptions increased in both Denmark and Sweden by 11,000 and 16,000 respectively, but decreased by 13,000 in Norway. At the end of the second quarter of 2006, Telenor's estimated market share in Norway, measured in the number of mobile subscriptions, was 55 per cent, compared to 56 per cent at the end of the previous quarter.
Fixed
In Fixed Norway, the trend from previous quarters continued in the second quarter of 2006, with an increase in the number of xDSL and VoIP subscriptions, and a reduction in the number of PSTN/ISDN subscriptions. During the quarter, the number of xDSL subscriptions increased by 16,000 to 527,000. At the end of the second quarter of 2006, Telenor's estimated market share for xDSL in the Norwegian retail market was 58 per cent, measured in number of subscriptions, which was in line with the end of the first quarter of 2006. Telenor maintains its position as the market leader within broadband in Scandinavia, with a total of 1.2 million subscriptions at the end of the second quarter of 2006.
Broadcast
The number of direct-to-home (DTH) TV subscribers increased by 3,000 in the second quarter of 2006, reaching 921,000. The number of cable TV subscribers increased by 3,000, reaching 687,000 subscribers. In June, Norsk Televisjon AS (NTV), which is jointly owned by Telenor and the broadcasting companies the TV2 Group and NRK, was awarded the licence for operation and maintenance of the digital terrestrial network (DTT) in Norway.
Expectations
The outlook from the first quarter is maintained. For 2006, Telenor expects a revenue growth of around 30 per cent with an EBITDA margin before other income and expenses above 34 per cent. Capital expenditure as a proportion of revenues is expected to be above 20 per cent. "We are constantly evaluating how we can improve our performance. This can be seen in the strong margins within our mobile operations and the positive cost development in Fixed Norway. In Sweden, following recent acquisitions, we will reorganise the operations in order to reach our goal of becoming a leading provider of communication services," said President and CEO of Telenor, Jon Fredrik Baksaas.
Key Figures
The table below contains key figures from the second quarter of 2006 compared to the second quarter of 2005, the first half year of 2006 compared to the first half year of 2005 and the full year 2005.
Key figures Q2 2006 Q2 2005 First half First half Year 2005 (NOK in millions year 2006 year 2005 except earnings per share) Revenues 22,580 16,542 44,452 31,812 68,927 Revenues - growth (%) 36.5 8.6 39.7 7.9 13.8 EBITDA before other income and expenses 7,957 5,564 15,877 10,649 24,078 EBITDA before other income and expenses/ revenues (%) 35.2 33.6 35.7 33.5 34.9 Adjusted operating profit 4,414 2,813 8,788 5,194 12,534 Adjusted operating profit/ Revenues (%) 19.5 17.0 19.8 16.3 18.2 Profit after taxes and minority interests (Net income) 2,284 2,041 5,934 3,751 7,646 Earnings per share from total operations, basic, (NOK) 1.35 1.19 3.51 2.17 4.47 Investments (capex) 4,422 2,923 8,125 6,283 16,439 Net interest- bearing liabilities 38,210 17,814 30,858
For more information and detailed figures please refer to the quarterly report on www.telenor.com/ir.
To the editorial offices:
Press and analyst conference
In connection with the results presentation, a press and analyst conference will be held on Friday, July 21 at 09:00 hrs Norwegian time/CET. The presentation will be held in Auditorium A, Telenor Expo Visitors' Centre, at the Telenor Headquarters at Fornebu outside Oslo. President and CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas and CFO Trond Westlie will present the results. All presentations will be given in English.
Internet and mobile broadcast
The press and analyst conference will be broadcast live over the Internet, and a recorded version will available on www.telenor.com/ir. During the live transmission, written questions may be submitted via the Internet. The conference will also be available live, and in a recorded version, on mobile phones with 3G, GPRS or EDGE. For more details please refer to www.telenor.com/ir.
Conference call and Q&A
The press and analyst conference will also be available as a conference call. This service also allows participants to ask questions at a concluding Q&A session, which will be held immediately after the presentations and a brief Q&A session in the auditorium. Please register well in advance on (+47) 800 80 119 (from Norway) or (+47) 23 00 04 00 (from Norway or abroad).
Materials
English language versions of the full quarterly report and all presentations used during the press and analyst conference will be made available on www.telenor.com/ir.