Norway’s Telenor Q4 lags, unveils roughly stable 2017 targets vs 2016

Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor, under pressure to find a digital strategy that would ensure its future, unveiled 2017 targets roughly stable against the ones for 2016, as it reported fourth-quarter results that lagged expectations on Thursday.

The firm’s adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came to 10.8 billion crowns ($1.32 billion), against 11.9 billion seen in a Reuters poll and against 10.9 billion crowns in the year-ago period.

Unveiling its target for 2017, Telenor said it expected organic revenue growth in the range of 1-2 percent, unchanged from 2016; EBITDA margin of around 36 percent, compared with 35 percent this year; and capex-to-sales ratio, excluding licenses of around 17 percent, compared with 15-16 percent this year.

Shares in Telenor are down 5 percent over the past year, outperforming the European telecoms index down 17 percent over the same period but lagging an Oslo benchmark index up 26 percent.