Telenor moved to a net loss of NOK 1.94 billion in the fourth quarter versus a profit of NOK 2.10 billion a year earlier, hurt by an impairment charge of NOK 4.1 billion on its Indian operations and lower profits from its stake in Vimpelcom. The earlier flagged charge follows the cancellation of its Indian mobile licences in a court ruling. The operator's quarterly revenues improved to NOK 25.43 billion from NOK 24.86 billion a year earlier, as growth in Asia and mobile data services helped offset a slowdown in its home market Norway. Adjusted EBITDA rose to NOK 7.42 billion from NOK 7.18 billion, and the margin edged up to 29.2 percent from 28.9 a year ago. After organic revenue growth of 7 percent over the full year 2011, Telenor said it expects organic sales growth of over 5 percent this year. The adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to improve slightly to 32-33 percent, from 31 percent in 2011, while capex, excluding licences and spectrum, will rise to an estimated 12-13 percent of revenues, from 11.6 percent in 2011. Telenor increased its cash flow last year to NOK 19.06 billion from NOK 17.87 billion in 2010. The company will pay a dividend of NOK 5 per share, up from NOK 3.80 a year earlier.
