Royal KPN NV on Tuesday reported a 21% rise in fourth-quarter net profit that beat forecasts, and said it has started a new 300 million-euro ($325.5 million) share buyback program. The Dutch telecommunications operator
KPN,
+0.92%
made a net profit for the quarter of EUR190 million compared with EUR157 million for the same period a year earlier and a consensus of EUR145 million, taken from the company’s website.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization after lease costs–the company’s preferred metric, which strips out exceptional and other one-off items–was EUR598 million compared with EUR584 million and a consensus of EUR599 million. For the year as a whole, adjusted Ebitda after lease costs was EUR2.40 billion, compared with EUR2.35 billion and a company forecast for more than EUR2.4 billion. Royal KPN said it it expects to deliver adjusted Ebitda after lease costs for 2023 of EUR2.41 billion. Total revenue for the quarter was EUR1.38 billion compared with EUR1.37 billion, while adjusted revenue was EUR1.37 billion compared with EUR1.36 billion. Within this, service revenue was EUR1.25 billion compared with EUR1.23 billion Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com