Swedish telco posted a net loss of $349 million in Q4
Swedish telecom operator TeliaSonera expects total investments excluding license and spectrum fees to reach 14 billion to 15 billion kronor ($1.63-1.74 billion) this year.
The telecom operator said 2016 is a peak year for increased investments in fiber, mobile coverage and transformation. Last year, the company claimed to have invested 14.28 billion kronor, up 19.5% compared with 2014.
For the fourth quarter of 2015, TeliaSonera posted a net loss of 3.01 billion kronor ($349 million), compared to a net loss of 2.94 billion kronor in the same quarter the previous year. Revenue rose 5.9% to 22.66 billion kronor from 21.40 billion kronor in Q4 2014.
In Sweden, the telco posted revenues of 9.89 billion kronor, climbing 2.4% year-on-year. Swedish operations accounted for 43.64% of the group’s overall revenues in the period.
“Profitability in Finland improved and mobile service revenue growth turned positive as a result of price adjustments and up sales activities. In Norway, we continued to strengthen our position and 4G population coverage passed 95%,” said TeliaSonera President and CEO Johan Dannelind.
In December, TeliaSonera announced the divestment of its Nepalese operator Ncell to Axiata, three months after it announced plans to refocus the group on its Nordic and Baltic regions.
Dannelind said the process to leave other Eurasian markets continues. “Meanwhile, we are operating these units within the governance structure set up to secure responsible operations and exit process,” he said. TeliaSonera officials had previously said it is not possible to estimate how long it will take the process to reduce its presence in Eurasia.
TeliaSonera’s Eurasia business includes operations in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Tajikistan. TeliaSonera is being investigated by U.S. and Swedish authorities over a bribery scandal in Uzbekistan.
In the fourth quarter of 2015, TeliaSonera generated revenue of 4.47 billion kronor in Eurasia, representing 19.7% of the company’s overall revenue in the quarter. The largest markets for TeliaSonera in terms of subscribers in Eurasia are Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
In Europe, TeliaSonera operates in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Spain. Swedish operations accounted for 34.2% of the group’s overall revenue in the last quarter of 2015.
