News
Swedish incumbent writes down value of Uzbek, Danish operations.
TeliaSonera announced on Thursday it will take a 7.2 billion kronor (€775.1 million) impairment charge on its operations in Uzbekistan and Denmark during its fiscal fourth quarter.
The Swedish incumbent has begun selling off its subsidiaries in Eurasia, an area of its footprint blighted by allegations of corruption, particularly in Uzbekistan. As part of that process, it has re-categorised its assets there as held for sale and discontinued operations.
"When doing this we are obliged to change the valuation method for these operations. This has resulted in an impairment charge relating to our operations in Uzbekistan," said Johan Dennelind, CEO of TeliaSonera, in a statement.
This new method values TeliaSonera’s Eurasian operations based on estimated sales proceeds. Consequently, the telco has written down the value of its Uzbek arm by SEK5.3 billion due to the risk inherent in acquiring a business that is the subject of multiple corruption investigations.
TeliaSonera said it will also record a SEK1.9 billion impairment charge related to Telia Denmark.
"The writedown is a result of updated earnings projections following the previously announced decision to withdraw from the proposed joint venture with Telenor in Denmark," said TeliaSonera.
The two telcos cancelled plans to combine their Danish businesses into a 50:50 joint venture after failing to reach an agreement with the European Commission about concessions that would safeguard competition.
TeliaSonera is due to report its fourth-quarter results on 29 January.
