Telenor reported a sharp drop in net profit in the first quarter, after writing off its stake in Indian mobile operator Uninor. The result fell to NOK 583 million from NOK 2.793 billion a year earlier, after an impairment charge of NOK 3.9 billion. This was offset in part by a gain of NOK 406 million on the sale of its stake in TV2. EBITDA excluding one-time items improved slightly, to NOK 7.739 billion from NOK 7.359 billion a year ago, and revenues continued higher, to NOK 25.119 billion versus NOK 24.092 billion. On an organic basis, revenues rose 8 percent, driven by expansion in Asia. Telenor revised its full-year outlook to exclude Uninor, due to the uncertainty over licences in India. It now expects organic sales growth of over 4 percent in 2012, an adjusted EBITDA margin of 35-36 percent and capex at 10-12 percent of revenues, excluding licence and spectrum fees. Previously it estimated organic sales up over 5 percent, a margin of 32-33 percent and capex at 12-13 percent. In the first quarter, the margin was at 30.8 percent, while capex was largely stable year-on-year at NOK 2.682 billion, or 9.9 percent of revenues. Operating cash flow rose to NOK 5.252 billion from NOK 4.956 billion a year earlier.
