Telenor profit up, revenue down
October 29, 2014
By Chris Forrester
Telenor’s Q3 results show that its satellite broadcasting division suffered reduced revenues (year-on-year) falling from 2013’s NOK 241 million (€28.4m) to NOK 238 million.
Telenor said revenues and EBITDA decreased partly due to lower revenues from TV distribution and offset by higher revenues from data communications. This translated into EBITDA revenues falling from NOK 171 million to NOK 167 million, although operating profits rose from NOK 106 million to NOK 110 million.
Capital expenditure at Telenor Satellite Broadcasting grew from last quarter’s NOK 26 million to Q3 spending of NOK 82 million and “primarily related to Thor 7 ground infrastructure investments”.
Telenor said the past few months had seen increased growth from Occasional Use contracts especially for the Scottish independence election and the Oscar Pistorius trial in South Africa.
Telenor stated that the construction of Thor 7 is on track and the company was maintaining its Q1/2015 launch plans.
Telenor’s Canal Digital DTH/pay-TV operation was also under pressure. Q3 revenues fell back 2 per cent from NOK 1.146 billion to NOK 1.122 billion, which translated into operating profits falling from NOK 196 million to NOK 141 million. Telenor blamed lower revenues and higher customer acquisition charges for the declines.