Tele2 Group revived plans for an extraordinary shareholder dividend as outgoing CEO Anders Nilsson (pictured) reported the group had performed relatively well in Q2 against the backdrop of the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

In its results statement, Nilsson praised Tele2’s performance in a quarter which had been “difficult for the sector and society as a whole,” pointing to its launch of consumer 5G services in Sweden and progress in signing customers up to converged services.

The operator, however, still booked a drop in service revenue on pandemic-related issues, citing reductions from international roaming, equipment and mobile prepaid sales, along with the suspension of premium sport, which impacted its broadcast offer.

Net profit of SEK900 million ($99.3 million) was down SEK1.2 billion year-on-year, though the company noted its Q2 2019 results had been positively impacted by the sale of its operation in Kazakhstan.

Revenue adjusted to exclude divested operations fell 2 per cent to SEK6.65 billion.

The company’s extraordinary dividend, which will distribute a total of SEK2.4 billion to shareholders, was postponed in April to improve its cash position to help mitigate any issues related to the pandemic.

Nilsson noted the plan, and its financial guidance for the year, were being reinstated now it had a “better view of the pandemic impact and a solid plan of mitigations”.

Tele2 will hold a shareholder meeting to vote on the issue in September.