Growth in the number of customers and their needs has catalysed Telia’s results

In the first half of this year, the revenue of the largest Lithuanian telecommunications company Telia Lietuva increased by 6.3% to EUR 201.3 million, compared to the same period of last year. The company's EBITDA grew by 4.4%, reaching EUR 68.8 million, while its net profit increased by 6.2% to EUR 25.4 million. The company's sales of IT services, equipment, TV services and broadband Internet grew in double digits in the first half of the year.

Compared to the same period of last year, in the second quarter of this year, revenue of Telia Lietuva increased by 4.6% and totalled EUR 101.6 million. EBITDA of the quarter grew by 2.6% over the year, amounting to EUR 34 million, while the company's net profit was 8.2% higher, totalling EUR 12.3 million.

Half-year revenue of Telia Lietuva from sales of IT services jumped by 21.4% over the year, sales of equipment grew by 14.5%, sales of TV services - 12%, revenue from broadband Internet - 10.6%, and mobile services sales increased by 8.9%.

'With continuing second wave of the pandemic and the imposed lockdown, quality communication services remained extremely important in the first half of this year both for people and businesses. This has led to increased demand for Internet, IT, TV services and equipment related to preference for flexible work, entertainment and leisure. We have grown successfully, and continued to strengthening our infrastructure, expanding our content library and introducing new services, at the same time maintaining efficiency and high focus on customer care,' says Dan Stromberg, CEO of Telia Lietuva.

According to him, demand for IT solutions, mobile Internet and the growth in the number of customers were the main factors having driven the company's revenue increase. The number of Telia's mobile customers increased by 4% over the year and exceeded 1.4 million users at the end of the first half, the number of fiber-optic Internet customers increased by 2.7% to 300,000, the number of users of smart TV services increased by 2% and currently Telia TV is being watched in 254,000 households. At the end of the first half of the year, there were 82,000 households using Telia1, a converged mobile and home services offer.

In order to meet the growing needs of customers and to ensure top quality services, Telia has been constantly investing in its fixed and mobile communication networks. The company has already started one of the largest investment projects of recent years - installation of around 2,000 next generation Ericsson mobile base stations throughout Lithuania in three years. In the first half of this year alone, Telia's investments exceeded EUR 31 million and were a third higher than a year ago.

This also contributed to the assured leadership of Telia's mobile Internet speed: according to data of the Communications Regulatory Authority, the average data download speed on Telia's network was 93.6 Mb/s in the first half of this year and was almost twice as high as that of the other two operators.

Telia also continues testing 5G in Lithuania, and currently there are 32 base stations providing non-commercial 5G services in the three major cities of the country.

This half-year, Telia also introduced a next generation eSIM solution for smart watches in Lithuania and is currently the only operator in the country offering eSIM for Apple smart watches.

Dan Stromberg notes that quarantine restrictions have brought significant changes to the businesses in the country, which is why Telia has paid extra attention to existing and new business customers. The company's first TV campaign targeted at small and medium-sized businesses has already yielded results and allowed to increase the customer base in this segment.

'Quarantine has driven the need for e-services for all businesses rushing to adapt to the new reality. We have often been at the forefront of those changes: from remote work to data transfer to the cloud, from e-stores to smart customer communication solutions,' says the CEO of Telia Lietuva.

Cloud services stood out among the services aimed at businesses. The demand for these services increased by 40% during the pandemic, and there also is a growing number of companies choosing equipment rent and workstation maintenance services.

In May, the company paid to its shareholders record-high dividends totalling EUR 58.3 million (EUR 0,10/ share). The company's shareholders also elected the Board of the Company for a new term of office of two years, re-electing five former Board members, including one independent member, and electing a new independent Board member Dovilė Grigienė. Douglas Lubbe was re-elected as the Chair of the Board.

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