OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s Telenor said on Wednesday it expects its earnings to be largely flat or slightly higher in 2022 compared to last year as it posted quarterly profits below forecasts.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for October-December fell 6.5% year-on-year to 11.7 billion Norwegian crowns ($1.33 billion), while analysts in a poll on average had expected 12.2 billion.
The company’s overall revenue declined by 4.8% in 2021, reflecting the pending sale of its Myanmar operation, while adjusted for this it increased by 1.2%, it added.
“Entering 2022, we will maintain our focus on returning to growth,” Chief Executive Sigve Brekke said in a statement.
Telenor proposed a dividend of 9.30 crowns per share, compared to 9.0 crowns a year earlier and in line with analysts’ median expectation in the company-provided earnings poll.
The group, which has 172 million subscribers and gets about half its revenue from Asia and the rest from the Nordic region, expects “low single digit” growth in its organic service revenue in 2022, it added.
Capital expenditure is expected to amount to 16-17% of sales this year, it said.
($1 = 8.8256 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Victoria Klesty, editing by Terje Solsvik)
