Regulatory News:
TeliaSonera (STO:TLSN)(HEX:TLS1V)(LSE:TEE)(Nasdaq:TLSN):
Continued revenue growth and margin improvement
Fourth quarter
-
Net sales in local currencies and excluding acquisitions increased 2.1
percent. In reported currency, net sales increased 1.0 percent to SEK
27,123 million (26,851).
-
The addressable cost base in local currencies and excluding
acquisitions decreased 4.6 percent. In reported currency, the
addressable cost base decreased 5.8 percent to SEK 7,828 million
(8,311).
-
EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, increased 3.2 percent in local
currencies and excluding acquisitions. In reported currency, EBITDA
increased 2.1 percent to SEK 9,191 million (9,002) and the margin
increased to 33.9 percent (33.5).
-
Operating income, excluding non-recurring items, decreased 5.6 percent
to SEK 7,519 million (7,969).
-
Net income attributable to owners of the parent company decreased 6.3
percent to SEK 4,972 million (5,309) and earnings per share to SEK
1.15 (1.18).
-
Free cash flow decreased 70.0 percent to SEK 523 million (1,742) due
to SEK 0.6 billion higher cash CAPEX and no dividends received from
our associated companies (0.9).
-
During the quarter the number of subscriptions increased by 2.4
million in the consolidated companies and by 3.3 million in the
associated companies. The total number of subscriptions was 170.0
million.
Full year
-
Net sales in local currencies and excluding acquisitions increased 2.6
percent. In reported currency, net sales fell 2.5 percent to SEK
104,354 million (106,979).
-
Net income attributable to owners of the parent company decreased 13.7
percent to SEK 18,341 million (21,257) and earnings per share to SEK
4.20 (4.73).
-
Free cash flow decreased to SEK 9,629 million (12,901), mainly due to
higher cash CAPEX and lower dividends from associated companies.
-
The Board of Directors proposes an ordinary dividend of SEK 2.85 per
share (2.75), totaling SEK 12.3 billion (12.3), or 68 percent (58) of
net income attributable to owners of the parent company.
Comments by Lars Nyberg, President and CEO
"The fourth quarter marks the end of another strong year for
TeliaSonera. We are proud that we have been able to generate growth and
keep a healthy balance between revenues and costs and thereby improved
our EBITDA margin, excluding non-recurring items, for the third
consecutive year.
When we launched our new brand identity in May, the most tangible
benefit for our customers was our new offer with significantly lower
cost and improved cost control for data roaming. Users are now able to
keep the same mobile behavior when traveling as they do in their home
country. We are convinced that increased usage in the longer perspective
will compensate for a short-term negative impact on revenues. We can
already now see that volumes have more than doubled compared to a year
ago.
A cornerstone in our strategy is network quality and capacity. During
2011, we invested more than SEK 17 billion in networks and licenses. We
have taken the technology leadership in many of our countries by being
the first operator to launch 4G services. The roll-out will continue and
for example in Sweden our 4G services now cover 200 locations and will
expand by one city or village every day during 2012. After the launch of
4G tablets before Christmas we are now looking forward to be able to
offer 4G handsets in the first quarter.
In the fourth quarter, important milestones were met for several of our
operations. We have now more than half a million TV customers in Sweden.
Yoigo in Spain passed 3 million subscribers and reported positive EBIT
and cash flow. Ncell in Nepal became the overall market leader and with
Azercell’s 3G launch in Azerbaijan in November we now provide 3G
services in all our Eurasian markets.
Our free cash flow was affected by lower dividends from associated
companies as well as significant investments in spectrum. The former
relates to the ownership and governance disputes in Turkcell, where
recent legal awards in our favor and the Capital Markets Board’s new
decree regarding corporate governance principles are important steps in
the right direction.
In line with our strategy of increasing ownership in core holdings we
signed an agreement to increase our holding in Kcell in Kazakhstan. We
will continue to look for new opportunities within or neighboring our
existing footprint. Despite significant investments in capacity and
ownership increases, our solid financial position paves the way for our
Board of Directors to propose an increase in ordinary dividend to SEK
2.85 per share.
Looking ahead, we believe our revenues and earnings in local currencies
will continue to grow in 2012 despite macroeconomic and industrial
challenges.”
TeliaSonera AB discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the
Swedish Securities Markets Act and/or the Swedish Financial Instruments
Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication at 07:00 CET
on February 2, 2012.
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