OSLO: Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor on Thursday reported a 61 per cent slump in second-quarter profit, due to sliding revenues and losses in its stake in Russian mobile operator VimpelCom.Net profit tumbled to 1.38 billion kroner ($220 million) during the quarter, a sharp decline from 3.54 billion kroner in the same period last year.
Second-quarter revenues held steady, slipping slightly to 26.9 billion kroner this year from 27.1 billion kroner in 2008. The group’s shares were down 0.2 per cent at 53.29 kroner ($8.51) in afternoon trading in Oslo.
A strong quarter for Telenor’s Bangladeshi, Norwegian and Pakistani operations contributed to the sustained revenue stream. However, the Nordic group sustained heavy losses in the Ukranian market, due both to that country’s ongoing recession and drops in the value of Ukraine’s currency, Telenor Vice President Paal Kvalheim said.
This year’s second-quarter revenues from the group’s Ukranian operation were almost one billion kroner lower than they were in the second quarter of 2008.
