Norway's Telenor wrote off the value of its Myanmar operation in view of the country's deteriorating security and human rights situation, plunging the group into a first-quarter loss and sending its shares lower on Tuesday, reports Reuters.
While it will continue to operate in Myanmar, Telenor's mobile business in the Asian country, where it has had a presence since 2014, remains severely restricted following the military's seizing of power in a Feb 1 coup.
The new regime imposed network restrictions for all operators, and on March 15 ordered a nationwide shutdown of mobile data that has since cut Telenor's subscription and traffic revenues in the country in half, the company said.
However, it still added some 2 million users in Myanmar during the quarter as call volumes rose, increasing its local customer base to 18.2 million.