Robinhood shares gain on Q2 beat, as user and crypto growth accelerate
Investing.com -- Swedish telecom operator Telia (ST:TELIA) reaffirmed its financial targets for 2025, despite reporting a smaller-than-anticipated increase in fourth-quarter adjusted core earnings. The company’s earnings were impacted by its core markets, Sweden and Norway.
The company’s shares dropped 5% by 0842 GMT, marking their worst day since October 2022. The lower-than-expected profit was pinpointed by two analysts as a contributing factor to the share price decline.
Telia, which offers telecom services and operates TV channels in the Nordic and Baltic regions, stated it is entering 2025 "well-positioned to meet these targets." CEO Patrik Hofbauer emphasized the company’s focus on delivering its change program and achieving the financial goals set for 2025.
The telecom giant kept its 2025 projections of service revenue growth of about 2%, EBITDA growth of at least 5%, and capped capital expenditure under 14 billion crowns ($1.27 billion).
In the fourth quarter, adjusted operating profit before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased to 7.87 billion crowns, up from 7.49 billion crowns the previous year. However, this was below the average analyst forecast of 7.92 billion crowns provided by Telia.
The less-than-expected increase was partly due to lower EBITDA growth in Sweden and Norway, which were 1.4% and 5.3% below consensus at 3.49 billion crowns and 1.61 billion crowns, respectively.
Group service revenue increased by 0.6% to 19.73 billion crowns, falling short of the anticipated 19.81 billion crowns.
In a positive note, operational free cash flow declined less than expected to 826 million crowns, as the company continues its cost-cutting overhaul initiated in the second quarter. The forecast had predicted a negative 1.71 billion crowns.
Telia proposed a dividend of 2 crowns per share based on its 2024 results, which aligns with the dividend paid on its 2023 results and meets analysts’ expectations.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.