Executing on the strategy
“The quarter represents significant progress on our new strategic roadmap towards 2025. Mobile service revenues in Telenor Nordics increased by 5 percent, demonstrating the growth potential in the region. We completed the merger in Malaysia establishing CelcomDigi as the clear market leader, we agreed on the sale of 30 percent of the Norwegian fibre business, and we completed the decommissioning of the copper network in Norway. All in the same quarter”, says Sigve Brekke, President and CEO of Telenor Group.
Improved mobile growth in the Nordics contributed to an organic increase in both service revenues and EBITDA for the full year, despite increased energy costs and negative revenues impact from the copper decommissioning. Completion of the CelcomDigi merger led to a gain of NOK 33 billion, and a record net income of NOK 45 billion for the full year. Free cash flow amounted to NOK 11 billion for the year.
In addition to the completion of the CelcomDigi merger in Malaysia, good progress is being made towards completion of the merger between dtac and True in Thailand. These transactions are the two largest telecommunications mergers ever in South-East Asia, and will establish market leader positions, along with opening growth opportunities and reducing risk. As earlier communicated, the synergies from these transactions will strengthen cash flow and value creation over time.
For 2023, Telenor expects low to mid-single digit growth for both service revenues and EBITDA in the Nordics. The capex to sales ratio for the Nordics is expected to be around 17%.
Overall, Telenor maintains the mid-term ambitions outlined at its Capital Markets Day in 2022, including the dividend policy aiming at year-on-year growth in ordinary dividends per share. For 2022, the company proposes a dividend of NOK 9.40 per share, up from NOK 9.30 per share in the previous year.
Key figures Telenor Group* | Fourth quarter | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
NOK in million | 2022 | 2021 | 2022 | 2021 |
Revenues | 25 402 | 24 865 | 98 953 | 97 153 |
Organic revenue growth (%) | 1.5 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 0.6 |
Service revenues | 18 852 | 18 385 | 74 957 | 74 055 |
Organic service revenue growth (%) | 1.9 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 0.1 |
EBITDA before other income and other expenses | 10 146 | 10 148 | 42 374 | 42 656 |
Organic EBITDA growth (%) | 0.1 | (0.8) | 0.5 | 0.1 |
EBITDA before other income and other expenses/Revenues (%) | 39.9 | 40.8 | 42.8 | 43.9 |
Net income attributable to equity holders of Telenor ASA | 37 906 | 587 | 44 913 | 1 528 |
Capex excl. licences and spectrum | 4 637 | 5 257 | 16 728 | 16 277 |
Total Capex | 6 540 | 7 414 | 21 319 | 20 646 |
Free cash flow before M&A | 2 546 | (273) | 9 865 | 11 015 |
Total Free cash flow | 948 | (472) | 10 604 | 12 669 |
Mobile subscriptions - Change in quarter/Total (mill.) | (3.4) | 0.2 | 158.3 | 161.9 |
*) With effect from the fourth quarter of 2022, Digi in Malaysia is classified as discontinued operations, see note 4. As a consequence, the relevant figures, except for the net income and free cash flow, in the table above and throughout the report excludes Digi. | ||||
Fourth quarter and full year 2022 summary*
Total reported revenues were NOK 25.4 billion, which is an increase of NOK 0.5 billion compared to the same period last year. Service revenues increased by 1.9% on an organic basis both for the fourth quarter and for the full year.
Reported opex increased by NOK 0.7 billion. Organic opex increased by NOK 0.6 billion or 8%. For the full year, organic opex increased by NOK 1.5 billion or 5%.
Reported EBITDA before other items was NOK 10.1 billion and was stable on reported basis but increased by 0.1% on an organic basis. For the full year, organic EBITDA increased by 0.5%.
Increase in energy cost had an EBITDA impact of NOK 0.3 billion for the fourth quarter and NOK 1 billion for the full year. The increase translated to 3 percentage points impact on EBITDA both for the fourth quarter and for the full year.
Capex excluding licences and spectrum fees was NOK 4.6 billion, yielding a capex to sales ratio of 18.2% for the fourth quarter, and 16.9% for the full year.
Net income attributable to equity holders of Telenor ASA was NOK 37.9 billion for the quarter and NOK 44.9 billion for the full year. A gain of NOK 32.9 billion was recognised upon closure of the merger between Digi and Celcom. With completion of the merger, Digi as a subsidiary is de-consolidated and the historical income statement figures have been reclassified to discontinued operations, see note 4.
Total free cash flow was NOK 0.9 billion for the quarter, including negative contribution from M&A activities of NOK 1.6 billion mainly related to the merger transaction in Malaysia. Free cash flow before M&A activities was NOK 2.5 billion. For the full year, total free cash flow was NOK 10.6 billion, of which NOK 9.9 billion was before M&A activities.
Deconsolidation of Digi and the performance in the quarter led to the leverage ratio of 2.2x, which is an increase of 0.1x compared to the end of the previous quarter. Based on the merger transaction in Malaysia, the leverage definition now includes dividends from associated companies.
*Please refer to page 30 in the quarterly report for Definitions and descriptions of Alternative Performance Measures.
Media contact:
David Fidjeland, +47 93 46 72 24