A revised cashflow target for 2015 stood out from Telenor’s Q3 results, which also saw revenue hit an all-time high driven by mobile data.

The operator said it overstretched with its original NOK28-NOK30 billion ($4.2-$4.5 billion) cashflow target for next year. It will supply a further update at its Q4 presentation in February.

CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas characterised the figure as “too ambitious”.

“This is due to timing issues and headwinds in some market and opportunities to invest in profitable growth,” he added.

CFO Richard Olav Aa was more specific, giving three reasons for the missed target: One was an investment shift, he said, while a second was performance-driven and the third he described as “good news”.

Meanwhile, Q3 revenue grew by 6.6 per cent to NOK27.7 billion compared to the same period in 2013, with strong data growth in Norway, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

The company said only 29 per cent of its total base are active data users, an indication of significant future growth potential.

And this opportunity was one of the three reasons behind the revised cashflow target for 2015 — Telenor intends to invest more next year to capitalise on mobile data.

The 2015 revision was also the result of a disappointing performance from Dtac in Thailand, which is on course for a revenue decline this year. Telenor has “limited visibility” when this performance will turn up. Denmark too will struggle with operating cashflow in 2015.

The third, and final, reason for revised cashflow was a delay in the planned launch of a satellite which involves a capex shift from 2014 to 2015.

Otherwise, worthy of note during the quarter was the launch of Telenor’s newest operation in Myanmar, which was a contributor to 3.4 million new mobile subscribers added in the last three months across the group.

The company also confirmed its outlook for 2014 in terms of organic revenue growth, Ebitda margin and capex/sales. Net income in the quarter was NOK2.6 billion, down from NOK3.9 billion in the same quarter last year.