Press release
July 17, 2026
Continued good momentum
Second quarter summary
- Revenue amounted to SEK 20.7 billion (19.8).
- Service revenue increased 2.8%, like for like, driven mainly by strong development in Sweden, Norway and the Baltics.
- Adjusted EBITDA increased 3.4%, like for like, driven by service revenue growth across all markets and lower operational expenses.
- Operating income increased to SEK 3.7 billion (3.4).
- Total net income increased to SEK 2.4 billion (2.2) and total EPS increased to SEK 0.57 (0.50).
- CAPEX excluding spectrum and leases decreased to SEK 2.9 billion (3.0).
- Free cash flow decreased to SEK 2.2 billion (2.3) and cash flow from operating activities decreased to SEK 6.2 billion (6.7).
- Leverage decreased to 2.06x compared with 2.07x in the previous quarter and 2.09x in the corresponding quarter last year.
- Dividend of SEK 0.51 per share was paid to shareholders.
- Outlook 2026 (reiterated): Service revenue growth, like for like, around 2%, adjusted EBITDA growth, like for like, around 3%, CAPEX excluding spectrum and leases below SEK 13 billion and free cash flow around SEK 9 billion.
First half year summary
- Revenue amounted to SEK 40.7 billion (39.8).
- Service revenue increased 2.5%, like for like, driven mainly by strong development in Sweden, Norway and Lithuania.
- Adjusted EBITDA increased 3.6%, like for like, driven by service revenue growth across all markets and lower operational expenses.
- Operating income decreased to SEK 6.8 billion (7.0).
- Free cash flow increased to SEK 4.1 billion (4.0) and cash flow from operating activities decreased to SEK 12.7 billion (13.0).
- The acquisition of Bredband2 i Skandinavien AB was completed, and the company was consolidated from February.
CEO comment
"We continued our good momentum from the first quarter with solid service revenue development and EBITDA growth. This reflects strong demand for Telia's secure, reliable and high-quality connectivity, as well as our cost and capital discipline. We are strengthening our capabilities as a relevant and trusted partner, as customer needs for sovereign services and cybersecurity solutions increase. For the second half of 2026, we are focused on creating additional value for our customers, delivering profitable growth, and becoming an even simpler, faster and more efficient company.
Commercial progress
Sweden continues to grow, supported by high customer satisfaction levels, attractive convergent offerings and disciplined commercial execution. The consumer business remains strong, with a growing customer base across mobile, broadband and TV, and we took a significant step in our ongoing simplification by discontinuing the mid-market brand Halebop. We are also capturing value in business- and mission-critical connectivity, and through in-market consolidation opportunities, three of which we executed in the first half of 2026. In June, we signed a memorandum of understanding with KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Brookfield for the joint development of sovereign AI services and applications. We also launched Telia IoT Connect, a sovereign Internet of Things (IoT) service, and Telia Critical IoT Connectivity, the country's first commercially available service to use 5G standalone technology.
In Finland, we are executing on initiatives to improve both growth and profitability. Competitive conditions remain challenging in some areas, but cost improvements and customer wins in both the SME and large enterprise segments contributed positively to the business. In line with our focus on the core connectivity business, we agreed to transfer our Finnish enterprise cloud and capacity services to a partner, along with approximately 250 employees.
In Norway, we are making continued progress in our turnaround. The mobile customer base stabilized, and service revenue returned to growth across all main product areas in mobile, broadband and TV. EBITDA growth was held back by temporarily lower content costs in the corresponding quarter last year. We expect our mobile RAN combination with ice to be operational in the second half of this year, which will enable us to improve both coverage and efficiency.
Lithuania continues to perform well, supported by strong customer demand and high satisfaction levels, with growth across mobile, broadband and ICT services. To secure continued 5G leadership, we expanded our spectrum portfolio by adding 1500 MHz frequencies at attractive terms in a multiband auction.
Growth improved in Estonia, driven primarily by mobile consumer services, where ARPU was supported by 5G value loading and reduced discounting. ICT deliveries also returned to growth following a partial easing of supply chain constraints. Fiber expansion continued as planned, along with legacy transformation which helps drive efficiency.
In our Technology unit, we continue to modernize and simplify operations, while investing in enabling growth opportunities. Telia's TV platform delivered with high quality during Sweden's and Norway's FIFA World Cup games, when viewing and data traffic reached record levels with over 770,000 concurrent TV streams. Meanwhile, hardware prices have risen dramatically since the start of the year, which is impacting timings and priorities of investments, and warrants close monitoring going forward.
Sustainability progress
We are executing on our sustainability strategy, which includes four focus areas and related targets. We have already surpassed our 2026 targets for digital skills initiatives, with ~500,000 individuals reached, of which 12% directly. During the quarter, Telia's target to reduce our absolute scope 3 GHG emissions by 50% by 2030 (base year: 2018) was validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. We also received an 'A' score in CDP's Supplier Engagement Assessment, which recognizes Telia as a global pacesetter in engaging suppliers on climate issues. As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance customers' security, Telia has blocked tens of millions of fraud calls in the first half of 2026.
Financial progress
Service revenue and EBITDA are developing in line with our plan, with +2.8% service revenue growth, the highest in four years. Cost reductions continue to materialize, and despite continued salary inflation resource costs declined, especially in Finland. Free cash flow of SEK 2.2 billion again exceeded our expectations, due to milder than expected reversal of working capital and investment phasing. Our balance sheet remains strong, providing flexibility and lower interest costs, with leverage of 2.06x at the end of the quarter.
Looking ahead
I am impressed by how the organization is executing on our strategy and we are on track to deliver on our full-year outlook and mid-term financial ambitions. We expect lower EBITDA growth in the third quarter, and higher growth in the fourth quarter; this is due to phasing of customer projects, with the underlying business momentum remaining fully intact. We are also working to finalize agreements for the divestment of our Latvian operations, which will focus us even more on our core assets.
Our priorities remain customer satisfaction, profitable growth, and becoming even simpler, faster and more efficient. By focusing on what we do best, realizing the potential of technology across our business, and maintaining cost and capital discipline, we will continue to deliver in the rest of 2026 and beyond."
Patrik Hofbauer
President & CEO
In the CEO comment, all growth rates disclosed are based on the "like for like" definition and EBITDA refers to adjusted EBITDA, unless otherwise stated. See definitions for more information.
This information is information that Telia Company AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Market Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the contact person set out below, at 07:00 CET on July 17, 2026.
NOTES TO EDITORS
For more information, contact Tobias Gyhlénius, Head of Group Communications, on +46 (0)771 77 58 30, visit our newsroom and follow us on LinkedIn. To download our logo, high-resolution images of Telia leaders, offices and solutions, or B-roll footage for editorial use, visit our media bank.
ABOUT TELIA
Telia Company (STO: TELIA) is a leading telecommunications operator in the Nordic and Baltic regions. Every day, we deliver world-class connectivity and communications services to millions of customers through our sustainable and secure networks - enabling people, businesses and societies to thrive and grow. Our unique position at the center of digitalization shapes our ambition to be a trusted and progressive partner and gives us our purpose: to reinvent better connected living. Find out more at?www.teliacompany.com/en.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in the press release relating to future status or circumstances, including future performance and other trend projections are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to many factors, many of which are outside the control of Telia Company.
