"In the first quarter of 2009, the Telenor Group delivered stable organic revenues and an EBITDA margin in line with our outlook for 2009. We have managed to reduce capex and costs, resulting in a strong cash flow margin in a challenging business environment. Particularly Telenor Norway and Grameenphone in Bangladesh are delivering strong performance," said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO of Telenor.
Turbulent business environment
"The business environment continues to be turbulent and we now experience some impact on the telecom sector, in particular influencing international traffic. However, the total traffic volumes are relatively stable. Among our markets, the Ukrainian economy is being the most affected by the financial crisis. In spite of negative revenue development, Kyivstar continues to deliver high margins and defend its strong revenue market share," Baksaas said.
Alfa conflict escalated
"During the first quarter of 2009 there was an escalation in the conflict with Alfa Group, with the arrest of our VimpelCom shares as a consequence. On 3 April 2009 Telenor was officially served with a claim to pay USD 1.7 billion in alleged damages. Telenor regards the claim to be unfounded, and expects to be fairly treated by higher courts," Baksaas said.
India – a milestone for the Telenor Group
"The closing of the Unitech Wireless deal in India on 20 March 2009 marks a milestone for the Telenor Group. An experienced management team is in place, and is currently preparing for launch of services during the second half of 2009," Baksaas said.
Scaling our business activities
"Going forward we expect the trends in the macro economic environment to continue and we are therefore highly focused on scaling our business activities accordingly. We are currently evaluating and implementing efficiency programmes across the value chain to achieve sustainable cash flow improvements. We maintain our outlook for 2009," Baksaas said.
Key figures
The table below contains pro forma key figures (including Kyivstar) for the first quarter of 2009, compared to the previous year:
Turbulent business environment
"The business environment continues to be turbulent and we now experience some impact on the telecom sector, in particular influencing international traffic. However, the total traffic volumes are relatively stable. Among our markets, the Ukrainian economy is being the most affected by the financial crisis. In spite of negative revenue development, Kyivstar continues to deliver high margins and defend its strong revenue market share," Baksaas said.
Alfa conflict escalated
"During the first quarter of 2009 there was an escalation in the conflict with Alfa Group, with the arrest of our VimpelCom shares as a consequence. On 3 April 2009 Telenor was officially served with a claim to pay USD 1.7 billion in alleged damages. Telenor regards the claim to be unfounded, and expects to be fairly treated by higher courts," Baksaas said.
India – a milestone for the Telenor Group
"The closing of the Unitech Wireless deal in India on 20 March 2009 marks a milestone for the Telenor Group. An experienced management team is in place, and is currently preparing for launch of services during the second half of 2009," Baksaas said.
Scaling our business activities
"Going forward we expect the trends in the macro economic environment to continue and we are therefore highly focused on scaling our business activities accordingly. We are currently evaluating and implementing efficiency programmes across the value chain to achieve sustainable cash flow improvements. We maintain our outlook for 2009," Baksaas said.
Key figures
The table below contains pro forma key figures (including Kyivstar) for the first quarter of 2009, compared to the previous year:
| First quarter | Year | ||
| (NOK in millions except earnings per share) | 2009 | 2008 | 2008 |
| Revenues | 27 119 | 26 292 | 110 997 |
| EBITDA before other income and expenses | 9 268 | 9 230 | 38 362 |
| EBITDA margin before other income and expenses (%) | 34.2 | 35.1 | 34.6 |
| Adjusted operating profit | 5 035 | 5 545 | 22 495 |
| Adjusted operating profit/Revenues (%) | 18.6 | 21.1 | 20.3 |
| Profit after taxes and non-controlling interests | 1 622 | 4 571 | 13 065 |
| Earnings per share from total operations, basic, in NOK | 0.98 | 2.72 | 7.83 |
| Capex | 3 291 | 5 089 | 22 715 |
| Capex excl. licences and spectrum | 3 291 | 5 089 | 20 680 |
| Cash flow (EBITDA before other income and expenses – Capex) | 5 977 | 4 141 | 15 647 |
| Net interest-bearing liabilities end of period | 35 783 | 31 340 | 39 309 |
For more information please refer to the quarterly report on
http://www.telenor.com/en/investor-relations/reports/q1-2009.
