Telenor’s logo is seen in central Belgrade, Serbia, March 21, 2018. — Reuters picOSLO, May 4 — Norway’s Telenor wrote off the value of its Myanmar operation in light of the country’s deteriorating security and human rights situation, plunging the group into a first-quarter loss and sending its shares lower today.
However, it still added some 2 million users in Myanmar during the quarter as call volumes rose, increasing its local customer base to 18.2 million. “We still believe we are making a difference when keeping our operations running,” he told an earnings presentation. “We strive to continue to do so to the best of our ability.”
As a result of the writedown, the Telenor group’s net earnings slumped to a loss of 3.9 billion Norwegian crowns in the first quarter from a year-ago profit of 698 million crowns.Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 8 per cent year-on-year to 13 billion crowns, in line with an analyst forecast of 13.1 billion crowns.