Telenor Raises Dividend Despite Fall in 4Q Net Profit

Norwegian telecom provider Telenor ASA (TEL.OS) on Wednesday raised its full-year dividend despite posting a drop in fourth-quarter net profit.

Telenor posted net profit for the period of 2.23 billion Norwegian kroner ($288.76 million) from NOK2.29 billion in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose to NOK32.09 billion from NOK31.73 billion, while the earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortization margin climbed to 36.9% from 33.6%.

Analysts polled by FactSet had expected net profit of NOK3.27 billion and revenue of NOK32.21 billion.

Telenor said it added 2 million new mobile subscribers to its networks during the quarter. It added 1.5 million in Bangladesh and 900,000 in Pakistan, partly offsetting a subscription loss of 500,000 in Thailand. Total mobile subscriptions totaled 178 million.

Telenor declared an annual dividend of NOK8.10 a share, up from NOK7.80 last year.

Chief Executive Sigve Brekke said the company enters "2018 with clear priorities to deliver on our digital transformation agenda, to continue to seek efficiency gains and revenue growth, while simplifying our portfolio and way of work across the company."

Telenor expects organic subscription and traffic growth in 2018 of 1% to 2%, and capital expenditure excluding spectrum licenses of NOK18 billion to NOK19 billion. The Ebitda margin is expected to grow between 1% and 3%.

-Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com; @domchopping, @WSJNordics

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 31, 2018 03:39 ET (08:39 GMT)