News
Operator reports healthy revenue growth on TDC Sweden acquisition, solid Baltics performance.
Tele2 on Wednesday raised its full year outlook following a strong second quarter financial performance.
Revenue jumped 20% year-on-year to 7.99 billion kronor (€836.68 million), thanks largely to the acquisition of B2B provider TDC Sweden, and solid growth at its operating units in Kazakhstan and across the Baltics. The company also swung to a net profit of SEK278 million from a year-earlier loss of SEK60 million.
"It has been a productive quarter for Tele2 and a good quarter for our customers. We have launched new commercial propositions throughout our footprint to enable more freedom in data usage, forming the next step in our mission to liberate people to lead a more connected life," said Tele2 CEO Allison Kirkby, in a statement. She pointed out that mobile service revenue grew 12% on a constant currency basis.
EBITDA surged to SEK1.63 billion, up from SEK1.08 billion a year ago, driven by the inclusion of TDC, and strong profitability in the Netherlands and Kazakhstan. In the Netherlands, Tele2 swung to a positive EBITDA of SEK18 million from negative SEK121 million a year ago, due to better network economics and higher service revenue. In Kazakhstan, Tele2 benefitted from the integration of rival player Altel, which it acquired in March 2016.
"In Kazakhstan, the network integration accelerated in the quarter and we have now integrated around 1,400 of the 1,700 sites that we intend to integrate. We also relaunched the Altel brand to establish it as the premium brand in the Kazakh market," Kirkby said.
At group level, Tele2 grew its mobile customer base by 347,000 during the quarter, giving it 15.91 million in total, compared to 15.22 million in Q2 2016. Its fixed broadband base came in at 524,000, down from 558,000.
The overall strong performance led Tele2 to raise its full-year EBITDA guidance to SEK6.2 billion-SEK6.5 billion, from SEK5.9 billion-SEK6.2 billion. Its revenue guidance remains unchanged at SEK31 billion-SEK32 billion.
Allison Kirkby is one of the keynote speakers at Total Telecom Connected Europe, taking place in Lisbon on 11-12 October. Click here to find out more.
