6.5.2021 07:00:01 CEST | Ice Group ASA | Half yearly financial reports and audit
reports / limited reviews

6 May 2021 - Ice Group delivered a record high adjusted EBITDA result in the
first quarter of 2021, ending at NOK 86 million compared to NOK 4 million in the
same quarter last year. Total operating revenue in the quarter was NOK 552
million, a 12% increase from the first quarter last year (NOK 491 million),
while smartphone service revenue was up 13% to NOK 426 million (378).

Operating margins are seeing significant increases indicating new earning levels
for Ice Group. This is a result of the company's strategic long-term efforts to
improve customer offering, network performance, cost position and deliver
continuous customer growth. A new national roaming agreement (NRA) that came
into effect on 1 January 2021 drives costs down substantially and the EBITDA
result of NOK 86 million, equivalent to an adjusted EBITDA-margin of 16% (Q1
2020: 1%), is in line with Ice Group's guiding for 2021.

"Periodically the first quarter normally delivers lower sales, and was this year
also affected by large parts of Norwegian society being in lockdown because of
increasing levels of Covid-19. Our own and most of the bigger retail stores of
our partners have therefore been temporarily closed, negatively affecting sales
in the quarter. However, we continue to grow our customer base and added 11,000
new subscribers in the first quarter, maintaining our market leading win rate in
the B2C segment," says Eivind Helgaker, CEO of Ice Group.

Ice Group's subscription growth in the first quarter 2021, is lower than the
previous quarter, but at the same level as last year's first quarter, which was
partly impacted by closure of retail stores because of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Ice Group's efforts to increase customer satisfaction and further improve
customer offerings are paying off, reducing smartphone churn by 6 percentage
points from the first quarter last year (27%) to 21% in this year's first
quarter. This is the lowest quarterly churn ever reported for Ice Group. Churn
reduction efforts continues to be a focus for the Ice team to increase the
customer experience and further improve the net growth. The Covid-19 related
lockdowns have also reduced customer mobility somewhat in the first quarter and
this has had a minor positive effect on churn. 

ARPU improved steadily to NOK 226 in this year's first quarter compared to the
corresponding quarter last year (224). Retail store sales generally represent
higher ARPU compared to other sales channels. The temporary closure of retail
stores has therefore also affected ARPU negatively in the first quarter 2021.

Further network build-out is still key to Ice Group's business plan and improved
profitability going forward. The company added 103 new 5G-ready smartphone base
stations in the first quarter, bringing the total to 2,990. This run-rate is in
line with Ice Group's guidance of adding between 300 and 500 base stations in
2021.

Because of Ice Group's improved network footprint, the share of traffic in its
own network continues to improve. Average data on-net share improved to an all
time high 90% in the first quarter of 2021, up from 89% in the fourth quarter of
2020 and an increase from 83% in the first quarter last year. On-net share of
voice traffic also continued its positive growth in the first quarter 2021,
ending at 68% in the quarter. This is up from 63% in the previous quarter and up
from 37% in the corresponding quarter last year. Increasing share of data and
voice traffic in Ice Group's own network is a key enabler for improved
profitability and quality of services. 

"In sum, our operational and financial parameters continue to point in the
direction we want them to. The first quarter as a whole - including macro
effects outside our control - demonstrates our strong platform, the scale
effects in our business and our competitive advantages. Based on this, we remain
confident about achieving our guiding of an adjusted EBITDA-margin of 15-20% in
2021," adds Eivind Helgaker.

Live webcast presentation at 08:00 CET

Ice Group invites to a live presentation of the results at 08:00 (CET) today.
CEO Eivind Helgaker and CFO Per Heyeraas will present. Investors, analysts,
lenders and media are invited to follow the webcast on: 
https://channel.royalcast.com/landingpage/hegnarmedia/20210506_3/

A recording of the presentation will be available on Ice Group's website shortly
after the live webcast has ended.

 

For further information, please contact:

Media

Endre Aaberg Johansen, Corporate Communications AS, tel: +47 41 61 06 05, 
endre.johansen@corpcom.no

Investors

Per Heyeraas, CFO of Ice Group, tel: +47 973 46 344

DISCLOSURE REGULATION

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section
5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

ATTACHMENTS

Download announcement as PDF.pdf -
https://kommunikasjon.ntb.no/ir-files/17847219/535/698/Download%20announcement%2
0as%20PDF.pdf

Ice Group ASA_Interim Report 2021 Q1.pdf -
https://kommunikasjon.ntb.no/ir-files/17847219/535/696/Ice%20Group%20ASA_Interim
%20Report%202021%20Q1.pdf

Ice Group ASA_presentation Q1 2021.pdf -
https://kommunikasjon.ntb.no/ir-files/17847219/535/697/Ice%20Group%20ASA_present
ation%20Q1%202021.pdf

Click here for more information

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