By Anthony O. Goriainoff
Telia Co. AB said Thursday it missed consensus as it swung to a fourth-quarter net loss after it reversed non-cash impairments, and that like-for-like service revenue for 2023 is estimated to grow in the low single digits .
The Swedish telecom operator said it made a fourth-quarter net loss of 18.82 billion kronor ($1.84 billion), compared with a net profit of SEK1.19 billion a year earlier and a consensus of SEK1.22 billion, taken from FactSet and based on seven. analyst estimates.
The company said it has reserved non-cash impairments of SEK19.84 billion.
Service revenue increased by 3.9% to SEK20.17 billion.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization – the company’s preferred metric, which strips out exceptional items and one-off items – rose 1.2% to SEK7.37 billion, below the consensus of SEK7.44 billion, also taken from FactSet and based on estimates of 10 analysts. The company reported adjusted Ebitda of SEK7.29 billion for the fourth quarter of 2021.
Net sales increased by 3.8% to SEK24.26 billion from SEK23.38 billion the previous year.
The board declared a dividend for 2022 of SEK2.00 a share compared to SEK2.05 a share the previous year.
Telia said it expects like-for-like service revenue for 2023 to grow in the low single digits, and for adjusted Ebitda to be flat to grow in the low single digits, and that this was a reflection of macroeconomic uncertainty.
Write to Anthony O. Goriainoff at anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-26-23 0146ET
