Due to a substantial capital gain following the merging of its Malaysian subsidiary with a local business, Norwegian telecom provider Telenor on Thursday declared record 2022 earnings.
Incorporating a one-time gain of 32.9 billion kroner realized in the fourth quarter, Telenor’s full-year net profit increased to 44.9 billion kroner ($4.52 billion).
The Norwegian corporation finished tying up Digi, a Malaysian subsidiary, with Celcom which is controlled by the local group Axiata at the end of the year.
Telenor said it has achieved significant progress in the proposed merger of its subsidiary Dtac with True in Thailand carrying out its policy of partnering with local operators to grow its business in Southeast Asia.
Telenor reported a gross operating profit, or EBITDA, of 43.1 billion kroner in 2022 up five percent from the previous year after excluding the non-recurring capital gain.
The gain was partially attributable to the expansion of mobile phone services in Pakistan, Norway and Thailand which more than compensated decreased copper network operating revenue, cost increases, and skyrocketing power bills.
Sales amounted to around 99 billion kroner year up from 97.1 billion in 2021.
By the same time there were slightly fewer subscribers overall, down from 161.9 million in 2021 to 158.3 million at the end of 2022.
The decline was ascribed to Pakistani floods that disrupted networks and a prohibition on the sale of SIM cards in Bangladesh which has since been removed.
Telenor recommended increasing its dividend for 2022 from 9.30 kroner per share to 9.40 kroner, maintaining its profit outlook for the current year.
