News
French operator reports return to earnings growth in 2015, predicts another increase this year.
Orange on Tuesday posted growth in earnings in the most recent financial year and once again denied speculation that it is about to announce an M&A deal with Bouygues Telecom.
The French operator reiterated that it is holding talks with Bouygues Telecom about a possible business combination and shared a minor update on progress.
"These discussions are ongoing and require at least several weeks before any decision is taken," it said.
The comment came after Le Journal du Dimanche insisted that the deal would be announced at Orange’s full-year results presentation, despite the fact that the telco itself said it would make no such announcement.
Orange reported restated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of €12.43 billion in 2015, up by 0.1% on the previous year. It said revenues slipped by 0.1% on-year to €40.24 billion, an improvement compared to a 2.5% decline in 2014.
"For the first time since 2009, and one year ahead of target, restated EBITDA for the year is growing," said Orange CEO Stephane Richard.
"This growth is the result of a very strong commercial performance, particularly in very high-speed broadband, and our continued efforts to control costs," Richard said.
Orange doubled its 4G customer base over 12 months to 18 million, while fibre customers trebled to 1.9 million.
The telco reported 110 million mobile customers in Africa and the Middle East, up 4.1% year-on-year, while overall group mobile customers, including M2M but excluding MVNOs, reached 201.16 million, up by 8.5%.
Richard also talked up Orange’s acquisition of Jazztel in Spain and developments at its Middle East and Africa business, for which it created a separate holding company last year.
"Strengthened by our strategy and the commitment of our teams, we intend to continue this good momentum, targeting further growth in restated EBITDA in 2016 on a comparable basis," Richard said.
