FORNEBU, Norway, Oct. 26, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- In the third quarter of 2006, Telenor's revenues increased by 35 per cent compared to the third quarter of 2005, reaching NOK 23.9 billion. The underlying revenue growth was 12 per cent. The reported EBITDA was NOK 9.1 billion while profit before taxes was NOK 6.1 billion. During the quarter, the total number of mobile subscriptions increased by nine million, reaching 105 million.
"I'm very happy to present a strong operational and financial quarter. We have achieved excellent results with continued high growth in subscriptions and revenues, combined with a record high EBITDA margin. Most of our operations improved their margins compared to the same quarter last year," said President and CEO of Telenor, Jon Fredrik Baksaas.
Mobile operations
Telenor celebrated the 100 million subscriptions milestone in September, and at the end of the third quarter Telenor's mobile operations served 105 million subscriptions, on a 100 per cent basis. This includes 2.3 million subscriptions from Telenor Serbia, which was consolidated from September 1.
All three mobile operations in Scandinavia show solid growth in revenues and margins. Kyivstar in the Ukraine posted a revenue growth in local currency of 48 per cent with EBITDA margin of 60 per cent.
"We are especially satisfied with the performance of our Nordic mobile operations, where we are seeing good improvement. At the same time Kyivstar in Ukraine and GrameenPhone in Bangladesh continue to impress, delivering solid performances. We have expanded our footprint in the Balkans and are pleased to now include Telenor Serbia in the Group. We are looking forward to developing the company together with our other operations in this region," said Jon Fredrik Baksaas.
Fixed
In Fixed Norway, the underlying revenue decline was 6.5 per cent. The increased decline in revenues is mainly due to migration of voice traffic to mobile networks and price reductions. More than 50 per cent of households in Norway have a broadband connection and almost 20 per cent do not have a traditional fixed line telephony service. During the quarter, the number of xDSL subscriptions in Norway increased by 15,000 to 542,000. Telenor is the market leader within broadband in Scandinavia, with a total of 1.1 million retail subscriptions at the end of the third quarter of 2006.
Broadcast
The Nordic Broadcast business increased revenues by 13 per cent and the EBITDA reached a record level of NOK 485 million. The number of direct-to-home (DTH) pay TV subscribers increased by 8,000 in the third quarter of 2006, reaching 929,000. The number of cable TV subscribers increased by 4,000, reaching 691,000 subscribers.
Increased expectations for 2006
Based upon the strong results and positive development in the third quarter of 2006, the outlook for the full year has been adjusted compared to the report for the previous quarter. For 2006, Telenor expects a revenue growth of around 35 per cent with an EBITDA margin before other income and expenses of around 36 per cent. Capital expenditure, as a proportion of revenues, is expected to be around 20 per cent.
Key figures
The table below contains key figures for the third quarter 2006, compared to the third quarter 2005 and the full year 2005.
Key figures (NOK in millions Q3 2006 Q3 2005 Year 2005 except earnings per share) Revenues 23,868 17,641 68,927 EBITDA 9,073 6,378 23,836 EBITDA (%) 38.0 36.2 34.6 Operating profit 5,295 3,472 11,705 Operating profit/Revenues (%) 22.2 19.7 17.0 Profit after taxes and minority interests (Net income) 3,781 2,200 7,646 Earnings per share from total operations, basic, in NOK 2.25 1.30 4.47 Capex 4,816 3,720 16,439 Investments in business 12,333 5,824 8,858 Net interest-bearing liabilities (end of period) 47,278 21,838 30,858
For more information and detailed figures please refer to the quarterly report on www.telenor.com/ir.
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Press and analyst conference
In connection with the publication of the financial results, a press and analyst conference will be held on Thursday October 26 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 be made 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 at 07:00 and 09:00 hrs Norwegian time/CET, respectively.