Norway's Telenor reiterates focus on cost savings

Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor posted second quarter (Q2) results that slightly lagged forecasts on Tuesday, but the company reiterated its outlook and its focus on operational efficiency in its core markets.

The company, which exited eastern Europe and India and now focuses on Scandinavia, Southeast Asia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, reported operational spending savings of close to 1 billion crowns ($123.7 million) so far this year.

“We continue to execute on simplification and increasing efficiency,” Chief Executive Officer Sigve Brekke said in a statement.

“Going forward, we will build on the good momentum and continue to create value by focusing on growth, efficiency and simplification.”

The firm’s quarterly profit before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and other items, or adjusted EBITDA, fell to 11.3 billion crowns from 11.6 billion a year ago.

Analysts had expected a profit of 11.4 billion crowns, reports Reuters.

The company has seen its share price rise 6.0 per cent over the past year after boosting profit, raising its dividend and buying back shares, outperforming the European telecoms index, which fell about 15 per cent in the same period.

Telenor holds 55.8 per cent of the shares in Grameenphone, the leading telecom operator in Bangladesh.