Good 1st quarter for Telenor

Operating turnover for the 1st quarter of 2000 was NOK 8,700 million, an increase of NOK 803 million compared to the same period last year. This increase in turnover came from mobile telephony, and satellite and subscription services (PSTN/ISDN and Internet). Gains from the sale of the subsidiary Storm Communications Inc. amounted to NOK 311 million.

Competition in the area of fixed telephony is considerably tighter. Measured in traffic minutes, Telenors market share of traffic routed through fixed networks was approx. 82 per cent at the end of the 1st quarter, while the market share at the end of 1999 was approx. 87 per cent. Of a growth of approx. 30 per cent in traffic minutes in the 1st quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, 14 per cent was generated in Telenors business areas. In the 1st quarter of this year there have also been a large number of conversions from PSTN (ordinary analog telephony) to ISDN.

At the end of the 1st quarter, the number of GSM subscribers was 1,865,000. The net increase so far this year is 81,000, of which 63,000 subscribed to the pre-paid service.

At the end of the 1st quarter of 2000, the number of internet subscribers in the private market in Norway had reached 460,000, an increase of 60,000 since the turn of the year. Telenor Internett continues to expand internationally under the brand name Nextra.

Foreign companies in which Telenor is a shareholder had a customer base of six million mobile subscribers at the end of the 1st quarter, an increase of 1.7 million in the last quarter. In the 1st quarter of 2000, associated companies had accounting losses of NOK 229 million after tax, which represents an improvement of NOK 76 million compared to the 1st quarter of 1999. This improvement reflects the fact that certain companies have increased their subscriber base and have therefore recorded higher revenues.

The Telenor Group invested NOK 2.3 billion in the 1st quarter, NOK 1 billion lower than in the same period last year. The acquisition of Fellesdata at a cost of NOK 2.5 billion has not been included as an investment in the 1st quarter.

"Telenors 1st quarter result is satisfactory. We have good growth in earnings and a sharp rise in the number of subscribers to ISDN, Internet and mobile services in Norway, and in mobile and Internet services internationally. On the domestic market, we face a continued tightening of competition, which has resulted in a reduced market share within the field of fixed telephony. Telenor will meet its competitors even more aggressively than previously," says Tormod Hermansen, CEO at Telenor, in a comment to the results for the 1st quarter.