A strong end to the year
Fourth quarter summary1
- Revenue increased 0.9% to
- Service revenue increased 2.8% to
- Adjusted EBITDA increased 7.4% to
- Operating income amounted to
- Total net income2 amounted to
- Operational free cash flow increased to
- The leverage ratio2 was 2.32x at the end of the quarter.
- Outlook 2024: Service revenue, like for like, is estimated to grow by low single digits, adjusted EBITDA, like for like, is estimated to grow by low to mid-single digits, CAPEX, excluding fees for licenses, spectrum and right of use assets, is estimated to be around
- For 2023, the Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting a dividend of
Full year summary1
- Revenue increased 3.7% to
- Service revenue increased 3.9% to
- Adjusted EBITDA increased 4.5% to
- Operating income increased to
- Operational free cash flow increased to
1) Continuing operations if not otherwise stated. Telia Denmark classified as discontinued operations from the third quarter 2023. 2) Refers to continuing and discontinued operations.
CEO comment...
"Our primary objective throughout 2023 was to build profitable growth momentum in our Telco operations, increasing value creation across the business by optimizing capital allocation and cash conversion.
Our full year and fourth quarter results confirm that we delivered what we set out to achieve, despite the ongoing impact of macro factors including rising financing costs and contracting advertising markets.
Since the second quarter, our Telco business has returned to mid-single digit EBITDA growth and our annual and fourth quarter results are a clear improvement on the previous year.
Delivery against key strategic priorities continued, and I would like to highlight the following:
- Customer satisfaction is progressing in the right direction with six consecutive quarters of NPS growth
- Further consolidation of our network leadership position with Telia's 5G now reaching 89% of the Nordic/Baltic population, and our home market securing the strongest spectrum portfolio and awarded best network status
- Continued structural cost transformation enabling positive operational leverage
- Our strategy for returning TV and media to profitability has started to deliver tangible result
- Our net zero target for 2040 was approved by the SBTi, and the share of total supply chain emissions covered by SBT reached 52%
- The deal to sell Telia Denmark to Norlys marks another significant milestone in capital allocation efficiency
Business momentum in the final quarter of the year remained solid across our Telco operations, with revenue and EBITDA growing in line with our stated ambitions, meaning that - excluding the effects of energy prices - Telco EBITDA has grown consistently in the past nine quarters.
Telco service revenue growth of 3.3% was mainly driven by mobile, although Consumer, Enterprise and Wholesale all contributed. Telco EBITDA growth of 5.4% was driven mainly by higher service revenues.
The Nordic advertising markets, however, remain challenging and continued to decline, but our TV and Media business unit reverted to a positive EBITDA contribution, despite that much of the turnaround still lies ahead of us.
Breaking down the results by country,
Having started the year with three strong quarters,
TV and Media was challenged by further deterioration in advertising markets. However, a 14% reduction in advertising revenue was partly offset by 6.5% growth in pay TV revenue. C More customers were successfully migrated to TV4+ and MTV Katsumo in the quarter - a significant milestone. EBITDA was positive, despite continuing advertising headwinds and the stiff competition and costs for
Cash flow for the fourth quarter was, as expected, significantly higher than the same period last year, with operational free cash flow of
With leverage back within our 2.0-2.5x range, and the proceeds from the sale of Telia Denmark due in the first half of this year, the Board of Directors intend to propose to maintain a dividend of
Looking ahead for 2024, the Telia management team expect the current business momentum to continue, and anticipate low-single digit service revenue growth, low-to-mid single digit EBITDA growth, and CAPEX of around
As I step down as CEO at the end of this month, I am proud to be handing over a business built on world-leading digital infrastructure, a well-deserved reputation for embedding sustainability in our sector and beyond, increasingly happier customers, and a team of talented, engaged and dedicated employees. I would therefore like to extend my huge thanks to the whole Telia team for the journey we have started, creating a better Telia for all. With solid foundations now in place, I have every confidence that under Patrik's leadership, the Telia team will build upon these foundations through 2024 and beyond, and I wish all of them every success."
President & CEO
In CEO comment, all growth rates disclosed are based on the "like for like" definition and EBITDA refers to adjusted EBITDA, unless otherwise stated. See definitions for more information.
This information is information that
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Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in the press release relating to future status or circumstances, including future performance and other trend projections are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to many factors, many of which are outside the control of
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