TEO LT : Telia Lietuva results for the six months of 2017

Telia Lietuva, AB
Interim information

Telia Lietuva results for the six months of 2017

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, and Consolidated Interim Report for the six months' period ended 30 June 2017.

Second quarter of 2017:
- Total revenue amounted to EUR 94.6 million, up by 12.4 per cent over the revenue of EUR 84.2 million in Q2 2016.
- EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, was EUR 29.2 million, an increase of 0.3 per cent over EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, of EUR 29.1 in Q2 2016.

First half of 2017:
- Total revenue amounted to EUR 179.9 million, up by 7.9 per cent over the revenue of EUR 166.7 million in H1 2016.
- EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, was almost the same as a year ago and amounted to EUR 58.4 million (EUR 58.3 in 2016).
- Free cash flow amounted to EUR 15.8 million (EUR 20.8 million a year ago).

Management comment:
On 1 February 2017, the legal merger of Omnitel and BDC into the Company was completed and we have the first five months when the Company under new name, Telia Lietuva, AB is offering a wide spectrum of fixed and mobile communications services with IT expertise from a single point.

Q2 2017 was marked with the preparation for abolition of roaming charges in the EU as of 15 June 2017. On that day, the Company launched new mobile payment plans where customers can enjoy their services at the same price travelling within the EU, subject to certain restrictions set out by the EU and the fair usage policy. In addition, some of the plans have a travel insurance included. The amount of mobile data offered in most of the new packages has increased from 25 to 400 per cent, and the price for 1 GB of mobile data has fallen by up to 23 per cent.

Preparing for the forthcoming 5G and Internet of Things era, Telia Lietuva installed 4.5G / LTE Advanced Pro base stations in five major cities of Lithuania and started a major upgrade of its back-bone IP network. The Company continued investing into fiber-optic and 4G networks: 1786 base stations ensure the largest 4G network coverage and highest average speed of 40 Mbps.

The total investments during the first half of 2017 amounted to EUR 26.9 million, an increase of 14.5 per cent over investments of EUR 23.5 million a year ago.

In spite of tough competition and market saturation positive intake of a new customers over the year continued:
- Number of IPTV users increased by 12.1 per cent up to 199 thousand,
- Number of FTTH Internet customers grew by 7.9 per cent up to 255 thousand,
- Number of post-paid service users rose by 4.5 per cent up to 1,040 thousand.

Higher number of customers and growing demand for the mobile data (1.7 times higher than a year ago) in combination with relentless demand for equipment (sales were up by 18.7 per cent) and higher revenue from networks' interconnection services led to a growth in total revenue for H1 2017 by 7.9 per cent, whereof:
- Revenue from TV services increased by 12.5 per cent,
- Revenue from billed mobile services was up by 7.3 per cent,
- Revenue from broadband Internet services grew by 3.4 per cent.

Notwithstanding higher revenue stream, EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items, for both Q2 and H1 2017 was on the same level as a year ago due to higher cost of networks' interconnection and equipment acquisition, as well as increased employee related (salaries increase in Q2 2017) and marketing (rebranding in Q1) expenses.

During 2017, the Company repaid EUR 37.5 million from the long-term loan of EUR 150 million for the acquisition of Omnitel, and took the opportunity to refinance the loan previously extended by Telia Company to Omnitel by signing an agreement with the banks for a 5 years' term loan of EUR 60 million.

Following the decision of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, in May the Company paid-out EUR 0.03 dividend per share (in total EUR 17.5 million) for the year 2016.

ENCL.:
- Telia Lietuva, AB Consolidated Interim Financial Statements and Consolidated Interim Report for the six months' period ended 30 June 2017.
- Presentation of Telia Lietuva, AB Group results for the 6 months of 2017.

Darius Džiaugys,
Head of Investor Relations,
tel. [phone]