Telia Company implements decentralized country-led approach

Telia Company has completed its change program announced on September 4 and lowered the company’s cost base through a reduction of 3,000 positions, while decentralizing its organization as part of a new country-led operating model.

This will support commercial excellence and in turn deliver profitable growth. As previously communicated, the changes will provide annual savings of at least SEK 2.6 billion and reinforce Telia’s competitiveness and attractiveness for customers, investors and employees.

The changes are expected to result in somewhat lower restructuring charges than previously communicated, around SEK 1.3 billion instead of SEK 1.4 billion, with effect in Q4 2024.

Effective December 1, each Telia country unit – Sweden, Finland, Norway, Lithuania and Estonia – holds the main responsibility and accountability for commercial planning and execution, meeting customer needs and pursuing growth opportunities. To enable this, capabilities in IT, analytics, products, customer contact and strategy have moved from Telia’s central units to the countries.

At the same time, Telia is retaining the scalability and specialist expertise provided by a central strategic Technology unit and Group functions (Group Finance, Corporate Affairs, People & Culture, and Communications, Brand & Sustainability), each of which has refocused scopes and responsibilities in the new operating model.

Interfaces between Technology, Group functions and the countries have been significantly simplified, as part of a broad evolution of Telia’s ways of working that will strengthen collaboration, increase efficiency and empower local organizations.

Patrik Hofbauer, Telia Company President and CEO: “We are creating a Telia fit for the future. Millions of people rely on our networks and services every day, so we have many unique strengths on which to build. We have made tough but necessary changes, and our employees’ dedication during this time has been exceptional. Through our new operating model, we can serve customers better, build performance in our teams, and grow in a way that supports investment and attractive shareholder returns.”

The restructuring charges of around SEK 1.3 billion in Q4 2024 will not impact Telia’s full-year 2024 financial outlook statements, which relate to service revenue growth, adjusted EBITDA growth, CAPEX excluding fees for licenses, spectrum and right of use assets, and the structural part of operational free cash flow.