Ljubljana - Telekom Slovenije, the telecommunications incumbent, posted a group net profit of EUR 37.9 million for 2021, an increase of 52% over the year before, on sales revenue that was broadly flat at EUR 648.2 million.

The company said on Thursday that revenue was in line with plans given that international voice traffic and traffic from roaming by foreign users were lower than in the pre-pandemic period.

Earnings before interest, taxes, amortisation and depreciation (EBITDA) totalled EUR 220.8 million, an increase of 5%, with earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) reaching EUR 51.7 million in 2021, up 21%.

The group earmarked a total of EUR 208.2 million for investments in 2021.

It says it covered 96.8% of the population with the LTE/4G signal at the end of the year, and over 38.8% of the population with the 5G signal.

It also upgraded and expanded the fibre optic access network, connecting an additional 42,150 households to that network.

The management and supervisory boards propose that dividend be set at EUR 3.5 gross per share, meaning that half of the EUR 45.2 million in distributable profit will be handed over to shareholders.