Telia Lietuva results for the nine months of 2019The Board of Telia Lietuva, AB (hereinafter “Telia Lietuva” or “the Company”) approved unaudited Telia Lietuva, AB Consolidated Interim Financial Statements, prepared according to International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union, for the nine months’ period ended 30 September 2019. Third quarter of 2019*:
- Total revenue amounted to EUR 100.2 million, an increase by 3.9 per cent over the revenue of EUR 96.4 million in the third quarter of 2018.
- EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, was EUR 33.4 million, an ease by 1.5 per cent over EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, of EUR 33.9 million in the third quarter of 2018. Excluding the positive impact from IFRS 16, comparable EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, fell 7.4 per cent.
- Profit for the period was EUR 13.2 million, down by 17.9 per cent over the profit of EUR 16 million a year ago. Nine months of 2019*:
- Total revenue amounted to EUR 281.3 million, an increase by 0.6 per cent over the revenue of EUR 279.7 million for the nine months of 2018.
- EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, was EUR 96.4 million, an increase by 0.8 per cent over EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, of EUR 95.7 million for January-September of 2018. Excluding the positive impact from IFRS 16, comparable EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, fell 5 per cent.
- Profit for the period was EUR 37.8 million, down by 8.3 per cent over the profit of EUR 41.2 million a year ago.
- Free cash flow amounted to EUR 43.7 million, an increase by 35.2 per cent over free cash flow of EUR 32.3 million a year ago. Management comment:
Revenue for the third quarter of 2019 exceeded EUR 100 million and was the highest since the merger of fixed and mobile operations under Telia brand more than two years ago. Nevertheless, we are facing an accelerating decline of fixed voice telephony, tough competition leading to contracting ARPU and total market slowdown, which requires additional efficiency improvement measure to maintain the profitability level. Unique on the market converged offer “Telia One” that combines fixed and mobile services proved to be a great success. Over the year number of “Telia One” users more than doubled and reached 54 thousand at the end of September 2019. We observe a growing demand for legal and high-quality TV content. In cooperation with the largest in Lithuania news portal, Delfi, a new local content TV channel, Delfi TV, was launched on our IPTV platform from September 2019. Earlier in May, more than 13 thousand of TVPlay Premium movies and series were offered to our smart TV viewers. Over the year usage of Video-on-Demand service increased by a third, while number of HBO users grew by more than 7 times. An exclusive content from HBO and TVPlay Premium provided to smart TV service users in combination with “Telia One” offer ensured continuous intake of a new customers. Over the last twelve months:
- number of FTTH Internet customers grew by 6.2 per cent up to 290 thousand,
- number of IPTV users increased by 5.7 per cent up to 240 thousand. New customers, more premium TV content, growing usage of mobile data and high appetite for modern devices were driving the Company’s revenue up. During the nine months of 2019 compared with the same period a year ago:
- revenue from TV services grew by 15.7 per cent,
- revenue from equipment sales went up by 10.6 per cent,
- revenue from IT services increased by 10.5 per cent,
- revenue from mobile services was up by 5.7 per cent. Continuous investments into both fixed and mobile network bears its fruits: according to the latest measurements of the Communications Regulatory Authority the average speed at Telia 4G network is the highest in Lithuania and reaches 74.2 Mbps. The total investments into network’s upgrade during the nine months of 2019 amounted to EUR 29.2 million. An amount of EUR 8.1 million was allocated for investments into IT systems under business transformation program. In July 2019, migration of residential fixed voice, broadband internet and TV service users to a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system based on SAP was completed. The next important step in creating a holistic approach and ensuring the best experience to our customers will be migration of mobile service users to a new integrated CRM system. In September, we took part in discussion festival “Būtent!” where presented our sustainability agenda topics, organised programming workshops and engineer zone to show how Internet and mobile technologies enhance our everyday life. Note: * Introduction of IFRS 16 “Leases” from 1 January 2019 influenced the financial statements for 2019. Comparative information for 2018 has not been restated. ENCL.:
- Telia Lietuva, AB Consolidated Interim Financial Statements for the nine months’ period ended 30 September 2019.
- Presentation of Telia Lietuva, AB Group results for the 9 months of 2019
Darius Džiaugys,
Head of Investor Relations,
tel. +370 5 236 7878,
e-mail: darius.dziaugys@telia.lt
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