Telenor safeguards customers and delivers solid results

Third quarter highlights:

• Service revenues of NOK 16.2 billion, organic growth of 2.1 per cent from the same period last year

• EBITDA before other items of NOK 9.2 billion in the quarter

• Free cash flow before M&A of NOK 2.8 billion in the quarter

• Stopped 510 million digital crime attempts against customers

So far this year, Telenor Group has delivered an EBITDA before other items of NOK 26.5 billion, and free cash flow before M&A of NOK 8.3 billion.

- We continue to safeguard our customers while also enhancing their digital lives. At the same time, we are creating value for both our owners and society. I am equally pleased with this now as I have been during more than 20 years in Telenor, says CEO Sigve Brekke, who today presents Telenor's results for the last time.

Standing firm in the Nordic region

Telenor Nordic delivered 3.2 percent growth in service revenues in the quarter, while organic EBITDA growth ended at 4.6 percent.

- We offer customers more value for money, with new products and add-on services, and this has been successful. In Norway, more and more customers appreciate our Safe products, securing customers’ online safety and protecting them against new forms of digital fraud. In total, we gained close to 60 000 new mobile customers in the Nordics in the quarter, which also gives positive revenue effects, says Sigve Brekke.

- We are also fighting tough competition in the corporate market and landed a contract with Aker Solutions in the quarter that gives us 6 000 new subscribers, he adds.

Unrest in Bangladesh, progress in Pakistan and Thailand

Due to the turmoil in Bangladesh, service revenues in Telenor Asia decreased with 1.2 percent in the quarter. The organic EBITDA result decreased with 3.0 percent.

Bangladesh has been through a quarter of social and political unrest, which has also caused a setback for the country's economy and the telecom sector. Telenor was forced to close the mobile data network for a couple of weeks.

- We see some early signs of pick-up in the economic activity in Bangladesh, but it will take time before the situation is normalised. Apart from this, a lot of positive things are happening in Asia. I am impressed to see our business in Pakistan back to solid EBITDA growth despite challenging macro conditions. In Thailand, True is being rewarded for many good strategic choices during the last year, while CelcomDigi in Malaysia continues to generate solid dividends, says Sigve Brekke.

Peak Fraud season

In the third quarter, Telenor stopped 510 million attempts at digital crime in Norway alone. Of this, Telenor's security filters account for more than 483 million blocks. In addition, Telenor stopped 11.6 million fraud attempts via calls, and 15.6 million via SMS, respectively. The attacks usually happen through well-known scam sites, newly created websites or phishing attempts.

- Criminals are constantly developing new methods to attack businesses and people. Many attacks start with phishing attempts, where they try to trick us into clicking on links or giving away personal information. We are now entering a peak season for this type of fraud, in connection with Black Week and Christmas shopping, and expect to see an increase in fraud attempts related to online shopping and deliveries, says Brekke.

Financial outlook for 2024:

• 3-4% organic growth in Nordic service revenues (changed from low-to-mid single-digit organic growth).

• Around 6% organic growth in EBITDA in the Nordics (changed from mid-single-digit organic growth).

• For the Nordic business, capex excl. leases are expected to account for slightly less than 17% of revenues (changed from around 17%).

• 3-4% organic growth in the Group's EBITDA (changed from mid-single-digit growth).

• Free cash flow of NOK 9.5-10.0 billion before M&A and potential items related to prior years’ activities (changed from NOK 9-10 billion).