Results for the 3rd quarter of 2004

Adjusted for sales gains, the effects of acquisitions and disposals of operations and currency fluctuations, the growth in revenues in the 3rd quarter of 2004 was just over seven per cent compared to the 3rd quarter of last year. Operating profit increased by NOK 300 million to NOK 2,600 million, while profit before taxes and minority interests increased by NOK 659 million to NOK 2,664 million in the same period.

EBITDA (operating profit before depreciation and write-downs) in the third quarter of 2004 amounted to NOK 5,605 million. This is NOK 713 million more than in the third quarter of last year. The EBITDA margin adjusted for special items was 36.1 per cent compared to 37.2 per cent in the 3rd quarter of the previous year.

In Mobile, the number of subscriptions in consolidated operations increased by 2.2 million in the third quarter of 2004 compared to 0.6 million in the same period the previous year. In the consolidated mobile operations Telenor now has a total of 16.5 million subscriptions. In associated and consolidated companies Telenor has, on a 100 per cent basis, 45.2 million subscriptions. Revenues increased by NOK 2,559 million to NOK 8,881 million. EBITDA increased by NOK 811 million to NOK 3,412 million. In Telenor Mobil - Norway the number of GSM subscriptions increased by 114,000 in the 3rd quarter of 2004 despite almost 99 per cent of the population now having a mobile subscription. The estimated market share for Telenor Mobil in Norway remains stable at 56 per cent measured in number of subscriptions.

Revenues in Fixed - Norway fell by 3.3 per cent in the 3rd quarter of 2004 compared to the same period the previous year, adjusted for disposal of operations and special items. Correspondingly, the adjusted EBITDA margin was 36.1 per cent compared to 36.7 per cent in the 3rd quarter of the previous year. Operating profit was in line with the same period last year. The market share for fixed telephony in Norway, measured in traffic minutes, remained at 69 per cent compared with previous quarters, while total traffic dropped, partly due to the transition to mobile and from dial-up Internet to ADSL. At the end of the 3rd quarter of 2004 Telenor had 270,000 ADSL subscriptions in the retail market, which was 35,000 more than at the end of the 2nd quarter of 2004.

By the end of the third quarter Broadcast's number of satellite subscribers in the Nordic region exceeded 800,000. EBITDA increased by NOK 105 million to NOK 424 million.

Capital expenditure increased to NOK 3,140 million in the 3rd quarter of this year compared to NOK 1,460 million in the third quarter of last year. This is primarily due to increased network investments in Mobile caused by strong customer growth and the purchase by Broadcast of an ownership interest in a satellite. Net interest-bearing liabilities were NOK 20.7 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2004, a decrease of NOK 1.2 billion since the second quarter of 2004.

In the third quarter of 2004 Telenor purchased 3,000,000 own shares in the market for NOK 145 million. So far this year Telenor has purchased shares for NOK 2.85 billion including shares which have been or will be perchased from the Kingdom of Norway, in accordance with agreements.

"We are extremely happy with customer growth in our mobile operations, both in the domestic market and outside Norway, and we expect the customer growth and the positive development in Broadcast to continue," says Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO. "The market for fixed telephony in Norway is under pressure but we see an explosive growth in the broadband market and have therefore brought forward expansion plans for ADSL by one year so that we will achieve a coverage of 90 per cent of the population by the end of next year. For the Telenor Group we expect continued growth in revenues, driven in particular by international mobile operations, but this will also require considerable network investments in the future. For the year as a whole we expect to see a continued positive development in profits compared with 2003," says Baksaas.

Contact person:

Dag Melgaard, Chief Press Spokesman, tel.: (+47) 67 89 26 71 or (+47) 901 92 000

To editorial offices:

Press and analyst conference

In connection with the quarterly results, a press and analysts conference will be held in the Telenor Expo auditorium at Fornebu, Norway on Wednesday 27 October at 09:00 AM local Norwegian time (08:00 UK time). Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO and Torstein Moland, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will present the results in more detail.

Note: the presentation will be given in English.

Internet transmission

The press and analyst conference will be streamed over the Internet, both as a live transmission and as a recording after the conference, on https://www.telenor.com/ir

Conference Call

The press and analyst conference can also be listened to on the telephone, with the possibility to ask questions immediately after the presentation and question and answer session in the auditorium. Phone in well in advance to: 800 80 119 (from Norway) or +47 23 00 04 00 (from abroad).

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