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Sweden-based telco names new finance chief, CEOs of Swedish, Dutch operations.
Tele2 on Thursday forecast flat revenue and slightly lower EBITDA for 2016, as fourth quarter profit fell on costs stemming from its planned joint venture in Kazakhstan.
The Sweden-based telco also appointed a new permanent finance chief and new CEOs for its domestic and Netherlands businesses.
Revenue in the three months to 31 December increased 1% year-on-year to 6.94 billion kronor (€747.92 million). Mobile service revenue inched up to SEK3.28 billion from SEK3.21 billion. Full-year revenue came in at SEK26.86 billion, up 3% on 2014.
Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) fell to SEK364 million (€39.21 million) from SEK735 million in Q4 2014, due to SEK238 million worth of costs, the bulk of which were transaction-related costs stemming from Tele2’s planned joint venture in Kazakhstan with Kazakhtelecom. EBIT for the whole of 2015 was SEK2.45 billion, down from SEK3.22 billion last year.
This resulted in net profit falling significantly to SEK45 million from SEK494 million in the same period a year ago.
Looking ahead to 2016, Tele2 forecast revenue of SEK26 billion-SEK27 billion, and EBITDA of SEK4.6 billion-SEK5 billion, compared to EBITDA in 2015 of SEK 5.93 billion
Nonetheless, Tele2 said its SEK1 billion Challenger Programme – which aims to reposition the company as a value player and improve productivity – is on track to deliver an additional SEK1 billion of savings per year from 2018.
"The fourth quarter marked the end of a very eventful year, and further evidence of our challenger spirit in our pursuit to be the champion of customer value in mobile connectivity," said Tele2 CEO Allison Kirkby, in a statement.
In a separate statement, Tele2 also announced it has appointed Lars Nordmark as chief financial officer. He joins from Swedish alarm maker Securitas Direct and replaces James Maclaurin, who has been serving in the role on an interim basis.
"Lars brings a wealth of telecoms and leadership experiences to Tele2 and has a strong value creation track record in his previous CFO roles," Kirkby said.
Tele2 also named company insider Samuel Skott as the new CEO of Tele2 Sweden, after incumbent Thomas Ekman opted to leave the company. Meanwhile, Malin Holmberg, who is currently EVP of central Europe and CEO of Tele2 Croatia, is replacing Jeff Dodds as CEO of Tele2 Netherlands.
