Tele2 reported solid growth in sales and subscriber numbers in Q2, while profits moved lower. Net sales of SEK 11.06 billion were up 10 percent from a year earlier, led by growth in Russia and Kazakhstan. The latter two countries added respectively 693,000 and 759,000 new customers in the quarter, good for the bulk of Tele2's net 1.55 million new customers added in the three months. It total customer base numbered 36.27 million at the end of June. EBITDA fell 3 percent to SEK 2.72 billion, hurt by a price war and bad debt charges in its home market Sweden, and the margin dropped to 25 percent from 28 a year ago. EBIT was down 18 percent to SEK 1.43 billion, also impacted by accelerated depreciation on network equipment in the Baltics. Net profit declined 23 percent to SEK 849 million. Tele2 reported capex of SEK 1.59 billion, down slightly from a year ago, while free cash flow improved to SEK 773 million from SEK 693 million. For the full year, Tele2 maintained its capex budget at SEK 5.5 billion. It lowered the sales outlook for Sweden and Norway, but improved its forecast for customer growth and ARPU in Russia and Kazakhstan.
