ISLAMABAD: The closing transaction for the sale of Telenor Pakistan to Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd (PTCL) is now expected to slide into early 2025.

This has been revealed in the Telenor Group third quarter report. The report noted that that the sale of Telenor Pakistan to Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd was announced in December 2023.

“Telenor Pakistan remains part of business area Asia until the necessary approvals are secured to close the transaction. While we remain confident in the closing of the transaction, we now expect it to slide into early 2025.”

Telenor Group announced that Telenor Pakistan showed continued growth in service revenues in third quarter of 2024, with organic growth at eight percent, mainly driven by the continued monetisation strategy offsetting the three percent decrease in subscription base.

The Group released its 3rd quarter report which noted that Telenor Pakistan ARPU increased by 11 percent year over year primarily as a result of monetisation efforts. Opex increased less than expected at six percent mainly due to reversal of energy accruals.

Excluding the effects of these reversals increase in opex is still lower compared to the trends seen previous quarters this year, mainly due to lower fuel tariffs. Solid top-line growth, combined with a lower inflation rate and accrual reversals leading to lower opex, resulted in a solid nine percent EBITDA growth for Telenor Pakistan.

The Group also observed deterioration of the political and economic situation in Pakistan, which may increase the risk of civil unrest, security concerns and financial instability, the report noted.

Sigve Brekke, President and CEO Telenor Group for the rest of Asia said, “I was impressed to see Pakistan back to solid EBITDA growth under tough macro conditions while undergoing a divestment process”.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024