Telia’s recently appointed CEO Patrik Hofbauer (pictured) used his first quarter at the helm to flesh out the operator’s mid-term plans, as the company recorded a decrease in revenue for Q1 2024.

Hofbauer, who took over from new BT Group boss Allison Kirkby in February, said the focus of his first quarter as CEO had been to analyse the business, as he hailed “an impressive set of assets at an engaged organisation”.

Going forward, he outlined a goal to eliminate barriers and complexities, so the group can become “simple and faster in decision making and commercial execution”.

“If we succeed with this, we expect that we can grow our cash flow to above our current dividend level in future years. We plan to share more details of our mid-term ambitions after the summer,” he added.

Hofbauer also said he was comfortable with the full-year outlook announced in January, with expectations that cash flow generation will be “tilted” towards the second half of the year.

On to the numbers, revenue dipped 2 per cent to SEK21.3 billion ($2 billion), mainly due to a decline in advertising sales. Despite the fall, the company said it experienced growth in all telecoms businesses, while it was experiencing a turnaround in its TV and Media division.

Advertising revenue in TV and Media declined 6.3 per cent due to weak market conditions, however this was offset by 5.2 per cent growth in pay TV revenue.

Service revenue increased 1.5 per cent to SEK18.7 billion, with telco operations specifically increasing 2.7 per cent.

Total net income increased SEK757 million, up from SEK738 million, as the company’s overall balance sheet was boosted by the sale of its Denmark business early this month.