Sweden-based Tele2 Group has reported sales of SEK6.94 billion (USD842 million) for the final three months of 2015, up 1% from SEK6.88 billion in the year-earlier period. Turnover for the full year, meanwhile, rose 3% to SEK26.86 billion, with the increase attributed to stronger mobile data usage. Fourth-quarter EBITDA dropped 5% to SEK1.34 billion, however, impacted by declines in Tele2’s fixed operations, the launch of 4G services in the Netherlands and the devaluation of the Kazakh tenge. Full-year EBITDA fell by 3% to SEK5.76 billion. The move to merge the group’s mobile operation in Kazakhstan with rival Altel, combined with the Dutch 4G rollout and the foreign exchange losses, all had a negative impact on net profit, which stood at SEK45 million in Q4 2015, a sharp drop from SEK494 million a year earlier. Full-year net profit declined by 52% to SEK1.27 billion.
In operational terms, Tele2 Group added 848,000 net new customers in 2015 to take its total user base to 14.41 million. This includes 13.17 million mobile users (up from 12.14 million a year before), 569,000 fixed broadband subscribers (down from 598,000) and 672,000 fixed telephony subscriptions (down from 861,000). Kazakhstan showed the strongest performance, with the mobile unit adding 1.1 million net new users in 2015 to take its total customer base to 4.40 million and overtaking Sweden as Tele2’s largest market by subscribers.
CEO Allison Kirkby commented: ‘We remain single mindedly focused on further data monetisation across our footprint. Rolling out and commercialising the benefits of 4G, most markedly in the Netherlands, will impact overall progress for the Group in 2016.’