Telia Company year-end Report January – December 2024

Delivering on our agenda

 

Fourth quarter summary

–         Revenue increased 3.0% to SEK 23,724 million (23,039) and like for like, revenue increased 3.8%.

–         Service revenue increased 0.6% to SEK 19,725 million (19,606) and like for like, service revenue increased 1.5%. For the Telco operations, service revenue increased 1.7% on a like for like basis.

–         Adjusted EBITDA increased 5.1% to SEK 7,870 million (7,491) and like for like, adjusted EBITDA increased 5.8%. For the Telco operations, adjusted EBITDA increased 2.9% on a like for like basis.

–         Operating income increased to SEK 1,393 million (-2,398).

–         Total net income improved to SEK -339 million (-2,718) and total EPS improved to -0.13 SEK (-0.73).

–         Operational free cash flow declined to SEK 826 million (6,993) and the structural part of Operational free cash flow increased to SEK 2,341 million (2,329).

–         The leverage ratio was 2.28x at the end of the quarter compared to 2.17x in the previous quarter.

–         A dividend of SEK 0.50 per share was paid to shareholders.

–         For 2024, the Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting a dividend of SEK 2.00 per share (2.00).

–         The outlook for 2025, announced at the Investor update in September 2024, is unchanged.

 

Full year summary

–         Revenue increased 0.6% to SEK 89,127 million (88,561) and like for like, revenue increased 1.3%.

–         Service revenue increased 1.2% to SEK 76,582 million (75,687) and like for like, service revenue increased 1.8%. For the Telco operations, service revenue increased 2.0% on a like for like basis.

–         Adjusted EBITDA increased 3.6% to SEK 31,345 million (30,254) and like for like, adjusted EBITDA increased 4.3%. For the Telco operations, adjusted EBITDA increased 2.5% on a like for like basis.

–         Total net income increased to SEK 7,781 million (897) and total EPS increased to 1.80 SEK (0.08).

–         Operational free cash flow decreased to SEK 4,440 million (6,656) and the structural part of Operational free cash flow increased to SEK 7,504 million (7,254).

–         Free cash flow per share, rolling twelve months, decreased to SEK 1.02 (1.35).

 

CEO comment

 

“Momentum continued during the fourth quarter, with service revenue up by 1.5%, in line with our expectations, and EBITDA growth rebounding to 5.8%. We are delivering on our commitments, both in terms of financial results and organizational change. Our new country-led operating model was implemented as planned on December 1. Through stronger local execution capabilities, together with significantly reduced and more focused common functions, we will be able to make the fast decisions needed to sustain our improving levels of customer satisfaction and drive continued profitable growth.

 

Commercial progress

In Sweden, the Consumer business continued to grow, primarily driven by fixed-line services. Mobile services, where the premium segment in which we are a leader is growing slower than the price-oriented market segment, had a softer development. TV grew particularly fast, up 20% in the quarter, following years of consistent investment. Our TV aggregator strategy, combining the most attractive streaming services with linear TV channels, creates value both for customers and content partners, and it strengthens our converged household offering by driving demand and sharply reducing churn for broadband. In Enterprise, we saw negative growth, with customers making new investment decisions at a modest pace, although momentum improved again at the end of the quarter. 

 

Finland generated stable service revenue and, like Sweden, growth in Consumer was offset by a decline in Enterprise. However, mobile grew for both Consumer and Enterprise, driven by increasing ARPUs. Consumer broadband is now one of the best performing product areas, with service revenue up 9% in the quarter. Looking at Enterprise fixed-line revenue, the regulatory effects seen throughout 2024 exacerbated the impact of an overall weak market environment. However, overall EBITDA growth was 7%, supported by lower personnel and energy costs.

 

Norway also grew mobile revenue but saw a decline in fixed-line revenue. The current momentum is unsatisfactory, and we are executing on multiple initiatives to improve this in the course of 2025, including both improved customer experience and commercial strategy. Positively, price increases for consumer mobile services were announced and had only a low impact on churn, our offering for local partners in TV and broadband continued to attract new customers, and the EBITDA margin remained strong.

 

Lithuania’s service revenue growth showed renewed momentum at 7%, supported by both mobile and fixed, which converted into 9% EBITDA growth as costs were unchanged. Enterprise saw a strong rebound, including new corporate customer contract wins. 

 

Estonia produced more modest growth, which accelerated at the end of the quarter and to which all segments contributed positively. 5G coverage is now above 90%, and our mobile network was recognized as having the highest quality in Estonia by Rohde & Schwarz. In the quarter, Telia Estonia launched Green Week instead of Black Week, doubling sales of refurbished phones.

 

TV and Media’s improvements accelerated, despite the ongoing sector-wide decline in linear advertising. The number of streaming customers increased by 45,000 and digital consumption by 18%. The exit from the UEFA Champions League rights impacted revenue less than expected, while delivering a significant EBITDA improvement following a reduction in content costs.

 

Sustainability progress

Addressing climate change is a key responsibility, and the proportion of Telia’s supply-chain emissions covered by science-based targets is now 62%, up from 52% a year ago. On digital inclusion, we have reached 2.3 million individuals with our initiatives, already exceeding our 2026 target. Overall, Telia’s sustainability performance in 2024 has been ranked in the global top 1% by EcoVadis, leading us to receive a prestigious EcoVadis Platinum Medal for the third consecutive year.

 

Financial progress

We delivered on all our full-year financial targets, with service revenue growth at 1.8%, EBITDA growth at 4.3%, and CAPEX and cash flow well within our targeted levels. Our reported net debt to EBITDA remains firmly within our 2.0-2.5x target range, at 2.28x, despite reducing vendor financing to our target level of SEK 5.6 billion, less than half the level we had one year ago. In line with recent years, the Board of Directors has stated its intention to propose dividends of SEK 2.00 per share for 2024.

 

In line with our focus on active management of our asset portfolio, we have divested the first part of our portfolio of copper-related real estate Sweden in Q4 for SEK 0.2 billion and, after the end of the quarter, we agreed to sell our 9.6% share of Marshall Group for 1.2 billion.

 

Looking ahead

Our new organization is fully focused on delivering on our ambitious plans in 2025. Today we reiterate the financial outlook we provided in September, with full-year service revenue growth of around 2%, EBITDA growth of at least 5% and booked CAPEX below SEK 14 billion, as well as Free cash flow of around SEK 8 billion. We are entering 2025 well-positioned to meet these targets.

 

As I start my second year at Telia, we have our operating model, strategy and financial targets for the mid-term in place. At the same time, we are working hard to build a high-performance culture, which will both support us in reaching our goals and make Telia even more attractive for customers, employees and investors. We have a unique platform to grow our business and contribute to our societies, with millions of people relying on our networks and services every day. In 2025, we will do just that.”

 

Patrik Hofbauer

President & CEO

 

In the CEO comment, all growth rates disclosed are based on the “like for like” definition and EBITDA refers to adjusted EBITDA, unless otherwise stated. See definitions for more information.

 

This information is information that Telia Company AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Market Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the contact person set out below, at 07:00 CET on January 30, 2025.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

 

For more information, contact Tobias Gyhlénius, Head of Group Communications, on +46 (0)771 77 58 30, visit our newsroom and follow us on LinkedIn. To download our logo, high-resolution images of Telia leaders, offices and solutions, or B-roll footage for editorial use, visit our media bank.

 

ABOUT TELIA

 

Telia Company (STO: TELIA) is a Nordic and Baltic telecommunications leader and Nordic media house, serving consumers, businesses and public sector customers with essential digital infrastructure, ICT services and entertainment. Our colleagues serve millions of customers every day in one of the world’s most connected regions. We’re the hub in the digital ecosystem, providing 26 million mobile, broadband and TV subscriptions that empower people, companies and societies to stay in touch with everything that matters 24/7/365. Learn more at www.teliacompany.com.

 

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in the press release relating to future status or circumstances, including future performance and other trend projections are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to many factors, many of which are outside the control of Telia Company.