Telia saw its revenue decrease by 2% in the first quarter, but the Swedish telco can take heart from an improvement in its TV & Media business.
The company reported SEK 21,274 million in revenues and an EBITDA, up 3.4%, of SEK 7,144 million.
“Operational momentum continued in the first quarter, with growth in all telco businesses and progress in the TV and Media turnaround. NPS and service revenue trends in the consumer segment have been encouraging. Immediately after the end of the quarter the sale of Telia Denmark closed as expected, which strengthens our balance sheet, commented President & CEO Patrik Hofbauer.
Telia has been able to use the popularity of the TV services in Sweden to underpin customer price rises. A similar momentum took place in Norway and there was also a “healthy mid-single digit” growth in Lithuania.
TV and Media saw a decline in advertising revenue of 6.3% due to weak market conditions, however the decline was lower than in previous quarters and the majority of it was offset by 5.2% growth in pay TV revenue.
Hofbauer said the company was pleased with the progress in its digital transformation, with growth both in streaming consumption, the streaming customer base, and in our digital advertising revenue.
