The outgoing CEO of Telia Company says the turnaround of its TV business still lies ahead.
Allison Kirkby’s comments come despite a record 21% growth in Sweden following price increases and a 6% growth in the subscriber base compared to a year ago.
EBITDA was impacted by higher costs for TV content, after Viaplay was off air for most of the fourth quarter, and additional resources were put into customer care during the transition from C More to TV4 Play+.
This week it emerged that Telia was seeking a buyer for its TV4 channel after the telco announced write-downs of SEK 4.1 billion (€360 million) including a SEK 0.9 billion charge on its TV & Media business.
In the fourth quarter, overall revenue increased 0.9% to SEK 23,098 million and like for like, revenue decreased 0.4%.
In Estonia, TV and Media was challenged by further deterioration in advertising markets. However, a 14% reduction in advertising revenue was partly offset by 6.5% growth in pay-TV revenue. C More customers were successfully migrated to TV4+ and MTV Katsumo in the quarter.
