Telenor’s Q3 performance beats street expectations

Scandinavia's biggest phone company Telenor – the world's sixth biggest by subscribers - helped ease investors concerns over its loss-making Indian operations by posting strong numbers for its operations here for the three months ended 10 September.

Uninor, the Indian subsidiary of Telenor, registered a $227 million operating loss in the September quarter, but analysts in Norway, who have been critical of the company's investments in the world's fastest growing telecoms market, said its performance here was 'better than expected'.

This is on the back of Uninor clocking an over 100-per cent jump in sales in the three month period ended September when compared to the previous (June) quarter in the same year.

The company also recorded 8 per cent rise in its average revenue per user (ARPU), a key indicator of better performance as this translates to higher usage per customer.

The ARPU of all leading Indian telecom companies have been steadily declining over the last few quarters.

"I am pleased to see promising development for Uninor in India this quarter, with strong growth in subscriptions and increased average revenue per user," said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, president and chief executive of Telenor, which owns 67.25 per cent in Uninor.