Telia Lietuva results for the nine months of 2020

The Board of Telia Lietuva, AB (hereinafter “Telia Lietuva” or “the Company”) approved unaudited Telia Lietuva, AB Consolidated Interim Financial Statements, prepared according to International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union, for the nine months’ period ended 30 September 2020.

Third quarter of 2020:

- Total revenue amounted to EUR 100.2 million and was the same as a year ago. Comparable (like for like) revenue grew by 0.9 per cent.

- EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, was EUR 35.5 million, an increase by 6.3 per cent over EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, of EUR 33.4 million in the third quarter of 2019.

- Profit for the period was EUR 15.1 million, up by 14.9 per cent over the profit of EUR 13.2 million a year ago.

Nine months of 2020:

- Total revenue amounted to EUR 289.5 million, an increase by 2.9 per cent over the revenue of EUR 281.3 million for the nine months of 2019. Comparable (like for like) revenue grew by 3.8 per cent.

- EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, was EUR 101.8 million and grew by 5.6 per cent over EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, of EUR 96.4 million for January-September of 2019.

- Profit for the period was EUR 39 million, up by 3.3 per cent over the profit of EUR 37.8 million a year ago.

- Free cash flow amounted to EUR 63.9 million, an increase by 34.6 per cent over free cash flow of EUR 47.5 million a year ago.

Management comment:

We could call the third quarter of 2020 as back to new normal where retail outlets are opened, employees returned to the office and during quarantine suspended services are reordered. The Bank of Lithuania forecasts that this year Lithuania’s GDP will shrunk by just 2 per cent and will recover next year with a 3.1 per cent growth in GDP.

On the other hand, we still have cross boarder travelling restrictions that affect our roaming services. The pandemic has also changed pattern of customers’ behaviour and purchase preferences. We observe an ongoing demand for connection speed and capacity, cloud and data center solutions for businesses, laptops and TV sets for home.

Intake of new customers continued during July-September 2020. The number of upgraded prepaid mobile service subscriptions increased by 19 thousand and post-paid – by 10 thousand, while number of broadband Internet and TV service customers increased by 2 thousand each.

Over the last twelve months:

- number of mobile service subscriptions grew by 3.4 per cent up to 1,384 thousand,

- number of TV service users increased by 4.6 per cent up to 251 thousand,

- number of FTTH Internet connections went up by 1.7 per cent up to 295 thousand.

Revenue for the third quarter of 2020 – similar as a year ago – exceeded EUR 100 million. Decline in roaming business was compensated with new mobile customers’ intake and increased ARPU. New contracts for IT solutions led to a double digit growth in revenue from IT services. New customers and increased ARPU generated higher revenue from Internet services, while lack of live sports’ broadcastings slightly slowed down the growth in revenue from TV services.

Over the year, comparing the nine months’ period of 2020 with the same period in 2019:

- revenue from IT services grew by 21.8 per cent,

- revenue from TV services increased by 15.4 per cent,

- comparable (like for like) revenue from billed mobile services was up by 4.7 per cent.

Increased operations efficiency led to a record high quarterly EBITDA (excluding non-recurring expenses) standing at a 35.4 per cent margin. Improved EBITDA in combination with positive changes in working capital generated strong cash flows. This year capital expenditure is lower than in 2019. For the nine months of 2020, capital investment amounted to EUR 37.3 million, 12.2 per cent less than during the same period a year ago.

The quarantine proved that digitalisation of our customers’ experience is the right strategy and it should be accelerated while not losing the quality and customer focus. The recent secret buyer’s test performed by independent researchers showed that our customer care at retail shops compared with the other operators in Lithuania is the best in class.

The Chair of the Board, Emil Nilsson, following his departure from Telia Company has submitted his resignation letter to the Board of the Company. The last day of him in office will be 21 October 2020. He chaired the Board of Telia Lietuva for almost two years.

ENCL.:

- Telia Lietuva, AB Consolidated Interim Financial Statements for the nine months’ period ended 30 September 2020.

- Presentation of Telia Lietuva, AB Group results for the nine months of 2020.

Darius Džiaugys,

Head of Investor Relations,

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e-mail:

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