BRUSSELS: TeliaSonera AB, Sweden’s biggest phone company, reported earnings that topped analysts’ estimates, helped by rising sales in Europe and Asia.
Second-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 4 percent to 9.19 billion kronor ($1.1 billion), or 33.9 percent of sales, the government-owned carrier said in a statement Friday. Analysts predicted 8.98 billion kronor on average.
TeliaSonera is spending more in its northern European operations amid rising domestic competition from Telenor ASA, 3 Scandinavia and Tele2 AB. The carrier bought Tele2’s Norway business in March and is seeking government approval to merge its Danish business with Telenor’s.
Sales rose 8.5 percent to 27.1 billion kronor, compared with the estimated 26.5 billion kronor. The company still expects this year’s adjusted Ebitda to be about the same as 2014’s 35.2 billion kronor, though it said it sees “increased risks related to performance in Eurasia.”
TeliaSonera shares rose 2.2 percent to 52.1 kronor at 9:10 a.m. in Stockholm, valuing the company at 225 billion kronor.
