BELGRADE (Serbia), October 26 (SeeNews) – Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor said on Wednesday the combined operating profit of its wireless units in Serbia and Montenegro fell 8.8% to 643 million Norwegian crowns ($77.8 million/71.3 million euro) in the first nine months of 2016.
Telenor started reporting the results of Telenor Serbia and Telenor Montenegro as one operating segment as of January 1, 2014.
The total number of subscribers of Telenor's two wireless units increased by 102,000 on the quarter driven by seasonal effects, however, at the end of September the subscription base was 3% lower than at the end of the third quarter last year, the parent company said in an interim financial report for the third quarter.
Combined earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) before other items in Serbia and Montenegro increased 1.3% to 1.03 billion Norwegian crowns in the first nine months. Total revenues grew by 4.3% to 2.95 billion crowns.
The group's EBITDA margin in Serbia and Montenegro remained stable compared to last year.
Capital expenditure - which reached 361 million Norwegian crowns at the end of September - was mainly related to 4G roll-out. At the end of the third quarter, the 4G population coverage was 55% in Montenegro and 40% in Serbia.
In July, Telenor Montenegro renewed spectrum holdings in the 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz frequency bands and acquired additional 2x5 MHz in each of these frequency bands at a total price of 12.4 million euro.
In Serbia, the licences in the 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz frequency bands have been extended for 10 years, in line with the condition set out when Telenor entered the country in 2006.
Telenor's wireless unit competes on the Serbian market of some 7.2 million people with Telekom Srbija's mobile arm, MTS, and VIP Mobile, a unit of Telekom Austria Group.
Telenor's main competitor in Montenegro is T-Mobile Crna Gora, owned by the Hungarian unit of Deutsche Telekom, Magyar Telekom. M:tel, the third mobile operator in the Adriatic state of some 630,000, is majority owned by Telekom Srbija.
Elsewhere in Southeast Europe, Telenor Group also operates in Bulgaria.
(1 euro=9.01275 Norwegian crowns)