Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 26
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
Scandinavian telecommunications company Telia (formerly TeliaSonera), which owns assets in Fintur Holdings B.V. – a shareholder in Azerbaijan’s Azercell – has reported about a total impairment of 3,550 million SEK ($450 million) of Fintur in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Telia owns 58.55 percent of assets worth $430 million in Fintur Holdings B.V. In September 2015, Telia reported that it planned to reduce its presence in Eurasia, including Azerbaijan. Previously, the biggest mobile operator in Turkey, TurkCell, expressed its interest in the assets of Telia in Azerbaijan, but the deal never took place.
“Based on the most recent developments in the ongoing sales processes for Fintur, management’s best estimates of the fair values less costs to sell for the Fintur units per December 31, 2017, have resulted in a total impairment of SEK 3,550 million ($450 million) in the fourth quarter affecting net income from discontinued operations, whereof SEK 2,550 million relates to Azercell ($323.34 million), SEK 450 million ($57.1 million) to Moldcell and SEK 550 million ($69.8 million) to Geocell, respectively. In addition, an impairment charge of SEK 300 million ($38.1 million) was recognized related to Ucell,” Telia said in a report released Jan. 26.
Telia earlier announced the sale of its stake in Georgian mobile operator Geocell, which was bought by another local operator, Silknet. The cost of the deal was $153 million. Thus, Telia has already left Nepal, Tajikistan and Georgia – three of the seven planned markets.