The company declined to comment on whether it was realistic to expect any cash flow from the Myanmar operation for the time being, with Brekke adding that the current uncertainty made it impossible to comment on future options."Our continued presence will depend on the development in the country and the ability to contribute positively to the people of Myanmar," he said.Telenor fully impaired Telenor Myanmar in its first-quarter accounts, booking a loss of 6.
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.
Telenor reiterated full-year guidance for overall organic revenue and earnings to remain unchanged year-on-year from 2020, excluding the Myanmar impact. It repeated that capital expenditure would amount to between 15 per cent and 16 oer cent of sales. The company, which serves 187 million customers in nine countries across Europe and Asia, a net gain of 5 million since the start of the year, last month announced plans to merge its Malaysian unit with competitor Axiata, seeking to form a new market leader..