­Norway's Telenor has reported a slight rise in its third-quarter revenues of NOK25.3 billion (US$4.44 billion), and a sharp rise in profits of NOK3.65 billion (US$640 million) compared to NOK2.6 billion a year ago.

The company said that revenues were driven by subscription growth in the Asian operations, high handset sales in Sweden and data revenue uplift in Norway, more than offsetting lower revenues in Denmark and Hungary in addition to negative currency effects.

EBITDA increased mainly due to improved performance in Uninor, Pakistan, DiGi, Norway, Grameenphone, Sweden and Broadcast more than offsetting weaker results in Denmark, Hungary and DTAC. There are no material currency effects on EBITDA year to date.

The estimated effective tax rate for the third quarter and the first three quarters of the year 2012 was 28% and 42%, respectively. The effective tax rate for the third quarter decreased compared to 2011, mostly due to increased share of net income from associated companies and decreased operating losses  from India, which both do not have impact on tax expenses for the Group.