Telia Company AB (TLS) Q3 2026 Earnings Report
DE:TLS Q3 2026 EPS Results
- Actual EPS
- EUR 0.06
- Consensus EPS
- EUR 0.06
- Beat/Miss
- Beat by +EUR 0.00
- One Year Ago EPS
- EUR 0.05
DE:TLS Q3 2026 Revenue Results
- Actual Revenue
- EUR 1.92B
- Expected Revenue
- EUR 1.87B
- Beat/Miss
- Beat by +EUR 54.76M
- YoY Revenue Growth
- +7.28%
Earnings Announcement Details
- Quarter
- Q3 2026
- Date
- 10/22/2026
- Time
- Before Open
- Conference Call
- Thursday, October 22, 2026
Telia Company AB's next earnings date is estimated for January 28, 2027, based on past reporting schedules.
Q3 2026 Earnings Call Audio
Q3 2026 Earnings Slide Deck
Q3 2026 Earnings Call Summary
The call was broadly positive. Telia reported accelerating service revenue, EBITDA growth, strong free cash flow, lower operating expenses, improved leverage, healthy customer trends and upgraded EBITDA and free cash flow guidance. The company also highlighted operational improvements in Norway and continued growth in Lithuania and Estonia. Offsetting challenges included difficult mobile competition in Finland, lower Swedish broadband ARPU, expected Q4 revenue moderation, a slight Lithuanian broadband customer decline, near-term costs and regulatory uncertainty related to Norwegian network sharing, and planned workforce reductions.
Management kept full year service revenue growth guidance unchanged at around 2%, expects lower service revenue growth in Q4 compared to year-to-date growth of 2.8%, and upgraded full year EBITDA growth guidance from around 3% to between 3% and 4%; CapEx outlook remains less than SEK 13 billion, while free cash flow outlook was nudged up to at least SEK 9 billion. They expect EBITDA growth to reaccelerate in Q4 and Sweden growth to reaccelerate in Q4. Norway RAN-sharing operations are planned to start at the beginning of 2027, with traffic migration expected to be completed before the end of that year and network build-out continuing through 2030; annual benefits to Telia are currently estimated at around NOK 300 million to NOK 400 million from 2029 onwards, with the impact negative in '27 and to a small extent in '28. Subject to union negotiations, Telia intends to reduce approximately 900 positions, targeting approximately SEK 1 billion of annual gross savings, with actions expected to have a positive impact on free cash flow in 2027 and reach the full run rate benefit from 2028; midterm ambitions include free cash flow of more than SEK 10 billion in 2027.
- Accelerating Service Revenue and EBITDA GrowthGroup service revenue growth accelerated to 3.3% in Q3 from 2.8% in Q2, while EBITDA increased 2.9%. EBITDA growth was stronger than anticipated, mainly due to lower costs, and year-to-date EBITDA growth reached 3.5%.
- Upgraded Full-Year EBITDA and Free Cash Flow OutlookBased on the first nine months, Telia upgraded full-year EBITDA growth guidance from around 3% to between 3% and 4%. Free cash flow guidance was increased to at least SEK 9 billion.
- Strong Cash Generation and Capital DisciplineFree cash flow was SEK 3.7 billion in Q3 versus SEK 2.9 billion in the same quarter last year, bringing year-to-date free cash flow to SEK 7.8 billion. Rolling 12-month CapEx was SEK 12.6 billion, below the full-year outlook of less than SEK 13 billion.
- Improved Balance Sheet and ReturnsNet debt declined by SEK 1.4 billion and leverage decreased from 2.06x at the end of Q2 to 2.0x at the end of Q3, at the very bottom end of Telia's targeted 2 to 2.5x range. Return on capital employed increased to 10.3% from 9.3% a year ago, while rolling 12-month free cash flow per share reached SEK 2.61 versus a yearly dividend of SEK 2.05 per share.
- Lower Operating ExpensesOpEx declined 2.6%, supported by relatively stable resource costs, lower marketing costs, less spending on other costs and better-than-expected bad debt levels. OpEx as a percentage of service revenue declined to 26.6% from 28.2% in the corresponding quarter last year.
- Healthy Customer Trends and SatisfactionCustomer satisfaction developed positively and Telia continued to report net growth in its customer bases. Telia Enterprise and Fello were named by the Swedish Quality Index as the mobile operators with the highest customer satisfaction in Sweden, while OneCall was ranked number one by EPSI for consumer mobile customer satisfaction in Norway.
- Sweden Revenue Growth and Consumer MomentumSweden service revenue growth accelerated to 4.7%, or around 4% excluding non-connectivity-related revenue and copper legacy revenue. Since the start of last year, Telia added more than 100,000 mobile customers and more than 150,000 TV customers in Sweden, with consumer ARPUs growing in both mobile and TV.
- Swedish Convergence ProgressTelia had approximately 1.2 million converged Swedish consumer customers, equal to around 55% of the base. Each additional service added reduces churn by about 50%, while average revenue per household continues to increase by around 3%.
- Swedish Emergency Communications ContractTelia was selected as the main supplier for the Swedish emergency communication network, demonstrating its role in secure and mission-critical connectivity.
- Finland EBITDA Growth Despite Flat RevenueFinland service revenue was flat because lower mobile revenue was compensated for by growth in fixed services, while EBITDA remained in growth territory due to good cost control. Telia also completed a non-core ICT divestment in Finland.
- Norway Operational RecoveryNorway service revenue remained positive at 1.8%, EBITDA returned to slight growth for the first time in nine quarters following the negative impact of the lost wholesale contract, and the operational cash flow trend improved. Mobile customer momentum improved, ARPU growth remained solid, and fixed revenue continued to perform strongly.
- Norwegian Radio Network Sharing InitiativeTelia and Ice plan to operate a joint radio network while retaining independent core networks. The arrangement is expected to improve coverage and capacity and create significant cost and CapEx synergies, with estimated annual benefits to Telia of around NOK 300 million to NOK 400 million from 2029 onwards.
- Lithuania GrowthLithuania service revenue grew 6.4%, with positive ARPU development and good performance across mobile and fixed services. EBITDA increased 7.9%, indicating continued conversion of top-line growth into earnings. Telia Lithuania was also selected to provide critical communications, connectivity and cybersecurity infrastructure for Lithuania's presidency of the Council of the European Union.
- Stable Estonia Performance and AI Customer ServiceEstonia service revenue grew 2.8% and EBITDA increased 4.3%, with positive ARPU development across mobile, broadband and TV. A new AI assistant in customer service successfully reduced response times and received positive customer feedback, while new security packages saw strong demand.
- Technology and Network EnhancementsTelia launched an enhanced Caller ID service in Finland and a Mobile DNS Firewall service in several countries. The company is expanding commercial 5G standalone capabilities, modernizing and closing legacy systems, consolidating partner and vendor ways of working, and improving delivery accuracy for new customer functions.
- Portfolio Optimization and AcquisitionsTelia agreed to acquire 6,000 fiber households in Norway and announced the divestment of its Communication as a Service platform ACE to a specialist partner. Transactions in Sweden and Finland also supported the company's portfolio simplification.
- Simplification Program and Planned SavingsSubject to union negotiations, Telia intends to shift resources from group functions to its countries, simplify the group structure and reduce approximately 900 positions. The program targets approximately SEK 1 billion of annual gross savings, with a positive free cash flow impact expected in 2027 and the full run-rate benefit from 2028.
- Bredband2 Synergy ProgressRevenue synergies from Bredband2 were developing in line with the business case through cross-selling TV and mobile services, while cost synergies were in line with plan or slightly better. Bredband2 contributed SEK 466 million of gross service revenue, SEK 381 million of net service revenue and SEK 71 million of EBITDA in Q3, with an expected positive contribution of roughly SEK 200 million in 2027.
- Progress Toward Midterm Cash Flow AmbitionManagement stated that Telia is well on track toward its midterm ambition of free cash flow of more than SEK 10 billion in 2027.
- Shareholder Returns ContinuedTelia paid another quarterly dividend of just over SEK 0.50 per share, and the SEK 3.7 billion of quarterly free cash flow more than covered the SEK 2 billion dividend paid during the quarter.
DE:TLS Earnings History
| Report Date | Fiscal Quarter | Forecast / EPS | Last Year's EPS | EPS YoY Change | Press Release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 28, 2027 | 2026 (Q4) | 0.05- | -0.03 | ― | ― |
| Oct 22, 2026 | 2026 (Q3) | 0.060.06 | 0.05 | 16.95% (+0.01) | |
| Jul 17, 2026 | 2026 (Q2) | 0.050.05 | 0.05 | 14.00% (+0.01) | |
| Apr 24, 2026 | 2026 (Q1) | 0.050.04 | 0.05 | -20.75% (-0.01) | |
| Jan 29, 2026 | 2025 (Q4) | 0.03-0.03 | -0.01 | -153.85% (-0.02) | |
| Oct 23, 2025 | 2025 (Q3) | 0.050.05 | 0.05 | 0.00% (+0.00) | |
| Jul 18, 2025 | 2025 (Q2) | 0.040.05 | 0.03 | 38.89% (+0.01) | |
| Apr 24, 2025 | 2025 (Q1) | 0.010.05 | 0.01 | 253.33% (+0.03) | |
| Jan 30, 2025 | 2024 (Q4) | 0.03-0.01 | -0.03 | 54.06% (+0.01) | |
| Oct 24, 2024 | 2024 (Q3) | 0.040.05 | 0.04 | 28.26% (+0.01) |
The table shows recent earnings report dates and whether the forecast was beat or missed. See the change in forecast and EPS from the previous year.
