For the second quarter, the company saw earnings growth in seven of its eight continuing markets. While net sales fell 2.0 percent to SEK 21.13 billion, comparable EBITDA rose 4.1 percent to SEK 6.39 billion. On an organic basis, service revenue was down just 0.2 percent, and EBITDA rose 5.1 percent. Sales in Sweden dropped 0.1 percent to SEK 9.26 billion, and the rest of Europe fell by 2.9 percent to SEK 10.52 billion. The number of subscriptions was unchanged compared to March and down by 0.4 million year-on-year to 26.8 million.
Net profit from continuing operations was up 34.8 percent year-on-year to SEK 2.85 billion, but the continued weakness at the Eurasia operations up for sale meant the result for shareholders dropped 55.8 percent to SEK 1.44 billion. Free cash flow also declined 73.1 percent to SEK 1.70 billion, while capital expenditure was up just 2.2 percent to SEK 3.77 billion. Telia expects capex for the full year at SEK 14-15 billion for continuing operations.
Telia CEO Johan Dennelind said the company was "working hard to solve our issues surrounding Uzbekistan and to responsibly reduce our presence in region Eurasia". It's also set up an independent unit to capture new revenue streams and further develop existing and future partnerships and is on track to achieve its target of a SEK 2 billion reduction in annual costs next year.
