Norway's Telenor lags first-quarter core earnings expectations

(Reuters) -Norwegian telecom operator Telenor reported first-quarter earnings slightly below analysts' expectations on Tuesday but said it had continued to grow service revenues above inflation on an organic basis in the Nordics.

Telenor's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) before other items rose to 8.64 billion Norwegian crowns ($832.82 million) in the January-March quarter, from 8.51 billion a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, had expected 8.67 billion crowns in a company-compiled poll.

"In Asia, we were encouraged by Grameenphone's quarter-on-quarter improvement, although it is premature to determine if this represents a trend," CEO Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer said in a statement.

($1 = 10.3744 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Elviira Luoma; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)