Sweden-based telco Tele2 has published its third quarter 2018 financial results, reporting 7% year-on-year revenue growth to SEK6.54 billion (USD731.5 million), up from SEK6.10 billion in Q3 2017. Its mobile end-user service revenue also performed strongly in the three months ended 30 September 2018, amounting to SEK3.65 billion, up from SEK3.38 billion in the year-ago quarter. The group attributes this growth to strong performances in its Kazakhstan and Croatia mobile markets. Tele2’s adjusted EBITDA stood at SEK1.98 billion for Q3 2018, a 12% increase from SEK1.77 billion one year previously. Net profit was down 2% year-on-year from SEK687 million to SEK673 million, while the telco saw its operating profit rise from SEK1.12 billion in Q3 2017 to SEK1.17 billion one year later.
In operational terms, Tele2 recorded 15.640 million subscribers across all its mobile, fixed broadband and fixed telephony markets at end-September 2018, increased from 15.379 million in Q3 2017. Tele2’s mobile subscribers continued to grow in this period, although the group recorded 71,000 fixed broadband subscribers for 3Q18, down from 90,000 one year previously and 270,000 fixed telephony customers, again down from 337,000 in the third quarter of last year, reflecting the worldwide trend moving away from fixed telephony to mobile services.