Telia’s acting president and CEO Christian Luiga (pictured) highlighted improvements in its free cash flow and service revenue, alongside a reduction in expenses during Q3, though this did little to prevent a near 16 per cent drop in net profit.

In a statement, the executive noted Telia previously indicated its performance would improve during the back-half of 2019, following a sluggish start to the year, adding figures for the third quarter “confirms this”.

An upturn in business during the quarter was “driven mainly by “acquisitions and working capital”, he said, adding operating expenses fell 4 per cent. Declines in service revenue slowed in Q3, down 1.2 per cent compared with an overall drop of 2 per cent during H1.

Despite Luiga’s bullishness, net income attributed to shareholders fell 15.9 per cent year-on-year to SEK2.4 billion ($246.9 million) on revenue of SEK21.2 billion, up 2.4 per cent.