TeliaSonera sees modest TV growth

TeliaSonera saw respectable growth in its pay TV numbers across its domestic Swedish market and most other European markets in the quarter to September, but the group’s overall performance was dragged down by its Eurasian operations, and in particular by price pressure on its operation in Kazakhstan.

In Sweden, TeliaSonera added a net 4,000 TV subscribers in the quarter to end at 713,000, while in the rest of Europe it saw TV numbers rise from 877,000 to 890,000. Finland remained flat at 491,000 customers, while its Danish operation added 3,000 homes to take its small base to 26,000. In Estonia, Elion added 3,000 subscribers to take its total to 171,000, while Teo in Lithuania added 7,000 IPTV subscribers, taking its total to 202,000. TV ARPU held steady in most markets, but dropped precipitately in Denmark from DKK407 (€55) to DKK357.

Overall, TeliaSonera reported revenues of SEK27 billion (€2.88 billion) for the quarter, up 6.3%, and EBITDA in reported currency grew by 3.1% to SEK9.7 billion. The company said it expected EBITDA excluding non-recurring items to be slightly down in local currency terms due to the Eurasian operations.