Global telecom operator TeliaSonera maintained its full-year outlook in reporting its third-quarter results today, although the company admitted it is mulling the future of its Spanish mobile operation. Q3 net sales at TeliaSonera rose 4.1 percent to SEK25.82 billion (US$3.25 billion), with net profit falling to SEK4.77 billion compared with SEK5.4 billion a year earlier. The company said its Q3 performance was “good” with sales growth driven by its mobility services division. Revenues from mobile services rose 5.1 percent to SEK12.29 billion, whilst EBITDA improved 6 percent to SEK3.84 billion. Mobile subscribers rose by 364,000 to 15.5 million. Meanwhile Dow Jones Newswires reported that TeliaSonera expects its Spanish startup Yoigo to post a loss in full-year EBITDA of more than SEK1 billion and it is now considering its options for the unit’s future. According to Wireless Intelligence, Yoigo is the country’s fourth-largest operator with 627,000 subscribers and a market share of only 1.2 percent. Launched in December 2006, it markets itself as a ‘low-cost’ mobile operator with reduced tariffs.

Looking ahead, the group said it still expects 2008 full-year net profit to be “somewhat higher” than in 2007, excluding positive one-off items of SEK2 billion. It said its 2008 capital expenditure is expected to be about SEK15 billion, while it expects to hold EBITDA level with last year. “We are in a period of global financial turmoil and it is very difficult to project how long it will last,” said Lars Nyberg, president and CEO. “However, TeliaSonera has a strong balance sheet and operates in a relatively non-cyclical industry. Therefore, we see no immediate effects of changing customer behaviour in our operations.”