Tele2 CEO Optimistic on Business Prospects

The president of Tele2 Group, Kjell Johnsen, is optimistic that the company could meet mid-term earnings goals and continue expanding 5G across its footprint. He believes that this will be achieved despite ongoing geopolitical and global economic issues.

Johnsen said the company was partly hedged against the challenging operating environment of high energy prices and inflation being experienced across many sectors. He added it was also benefitting from improvements already made to its business, with the group in the process of undertaking a three-year transformation plan.

Tele2 chief stated all of the company's major business lines were getting into growth territory and its various operations in the Baltics had continued to navigate an operating environment with major uncertainties. “The war in Ukraine impacts life everywhere, but becomes very prominent in the Baltics due to geographical proximity and the major influence of energy prices in the economy,“ he added.

Looking to the rest of the year, he warned supply chain issues may have an impact on the pace of 5G rollouts, but expected it to continue to progress well towards its various coverage goals. For the second quarter, Tele2 reported a 3% increase in revenue to SEK4.9 billion ($477.8 million). Net profit fell to SEK847 million from SEK1.4 billion, attributed to a one-off transaction in the equivalent quarter of 2021 and costs related to previously-divested operations.