February 2 (SeeNews) - Norway-based telecommunications group Telenor said on Thursday the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of its Bulgarian unit grew to NOK 1.19 billion ($145.2 million/134.5 million euro) in 2016, from NOK 1.13 billion a year earlier.
"EBITDA was mainly supported by positive revenue development," Telenor Group said in its 2016 annual report.
Telenor Bulgaria’s total revenues increased to NOK 3.17 billion in 2016, up from NOK 2.94 billion in the previous year. The increase was driven by both subscription and traffic and interconnection revenues.
Capital expenditure in Bulgaria dropped to NOK 320 million in 2016 from NOK 525 million a year earlier, and was mainly related to network and 4G expansion. At the end of 2016, the 4G coverage reached 78% of Bulgaria's population of some 7 million.
At the end of 2016, the subscription base was 4% lower at 3.4 million.
Telenor Bulgaria's EBITDA for October-December period edged down to NOK 287 million, from NOK 295 million in the same period of 2015.
The number of mobile subscriptions decreased by 111,000 during the last quarter of 2016, mainly from seasonal churn of prepaid subscriptions and migration from prepaid to postpaid.
Telenor bought Bulgarian mobile operator Globul from Greece's OTE for 717 million euro in 2013. In November 2014, Globul was rebranded to Telenor Bulgaria.
On the Bulgarian mobile segment, Telenor competes with Mtel, a unit of Telekom Austria, Bulgarian telecommunications group BTC, which operates under the brand name Vivacom, as well as with 4G operator Max.
(1 euro = 8.8456 NOK)