Telia releases January-June 2023 results

Telia Company Interim Report January – June 2023

Allison Kirkby, President & CEO: “Our efforts to restore sustainable, profitable growth in our Telco operations gained further traction in the quarter, resulting in accelerating growth.”

“TV and Media is however negatively impacting the Group’s financial performance as the current downturn in the advertising market is compounding the existing challenges in premium sports at a time of added cost from the ongoing business transformation. The previously announced restructuring of the business is well underway, and we have in the quarter taken further steps to reduce our cost base going forward.”

“In TV and Media, the work to refocus the business progressed and the launch of the new TV4 Play service is now just weeks away. The economic outlook and softening retail environment resulted in the advertising market weakening further in the quarter with our advertising revenue declining 14%. Meanwhile Pay TV revenue grew 4%, driven by price increases. EBITDA therefore declined to a SEK 7 million loss in the quarter, from the lower advertising revenues, content commitments made in earlier years, and costs related to the upcoming launch of the new hybrid TV4 Play service.

Full focus is now on returning the business to profitable, sustainable growth. First, we are executing on the previously announced merger of the C More services into TV4 and MTV, the launch of the new hybrid service from TV4, and the closing of the C More brand. Second, we are making a fundamental change to our premium sports business by only pursuing rights with certain clear profiles that support the TV4 and MTV local positions going forward, and with a significantly improved cost/revenue ratio. And third, we are addressing the TV4 cost base. In taking these steps, our TV and Media business will accelerate its digitalization, become even more relevant for both viewers and advertisers, and be in a strong position to restore profitability and cash generation when the advertising market returns.”

TV subscriptions (‘000)

                         2021   2021   2021   2021   2022   2022   2022   2022   2023   2023
                           Q1     Q2     Q3     Q4     Q1     Q2     Q3     Q4     Q1     Q2
                        -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----
Sweden                    847    864    891    915    935    948    964    972    994  1,004
Finland                   590    610    627    646    658    658    672    678    688    678
Norway                    477    486    486    486    487    485    485    485    484    481
Denmark                    29     26     26     24     23     20     18     17     16     13
Lithuania                 253    254    254    255    254    254    255    257    258    258
Estonia                   207    207    207    207    205    203    201    200    197    196
TV and Media              764    788    758    771    741    700    728    785    765    659
                        -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----
Continuing  Operations  3,167  3,235  3,249  3,304  3,303  3,268  3,323  3,394  3,403  3,290

TV ARPU

                         2021   2021   2021   2021   2022   2022   2022   2022   2023   2023
                           Q1     Q2     Q3     Q4     Q1     Q2     Q3     Q4     Q1     Q2
                        -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----  -----
Sweden (SEK/month)      188.6  190.8  192.2  201.8  201.8  201.0  202.0  191.2  198.7  198.4
Finland (EUR/month)       7.8    7.3    6.9    7.3    6.8    6.4    6.2    6.7    6.5    6.3
Norway (NOK/month)      281.3  276.3  272.2  269.7  272.1  265.9  288.2  278.7  284.2  298.6
Denmark (DKK/month)     131.7  162.2  166.1  177.3  180.5  225.6  248.8  251.1  259.2  290.4
Lithuania (EUR/month)    12.8   12.8   12.8   12.9   12.6   12.3   12.2   12.1   12.1   12.1
Estonia (EUR/month)      11.0   11.4   11.7   11.5   11.8   11.8   12.1   12.5   12.8   12.7