Telia president and CEO Allison Kirkby (pictured) indicated high inflation and rising energy prices would challenge the operator group in the coming months, but stated it remained confident in achieving low single-digit revenue and earnings growth across the full year as it revealed Q2 numbers.

In a statement accompanying the Sweden-headquartered operator’s Q2 results, Kirkby noted Telia expects energy costs to increase by around SEK300 million ($29.2 million) in 2022.

Efforts are being made to mitigate these rising expenses “through a combination of both cost and pricing initiatives”.

Kirkby also pointed to the recent signing of long-term arrangements for renewable energy supplies to power its networks and operations in Denmark and Estonia over the coming years.

Net income of SEK1.7 billion was somewhat lower at than the SEK8 billion booked in Q2 2021, though that figure was boosted by proceeds from the sale of Telia Carrier.

Telia’s net sales rose 1.9 per cent to SEK22.3 billion, while service revenue was up 1.5 per cent at SEK19.2 billion. The operator pointed to an especially positive performance from its core mobile network business.

Kirkby also noted 5G networks now cover 49 per cent of the population across Telia’s footprint.

In Finland and Norway, 5G coverage stands at 70 per cent.

Telia cited a transaction to sell a 49 per cent share of its Swedish towers business to a consortium comprising a unit of Brookfield Asset Management and Alecta which completed on 1 June as one highlight of the quarter.