Stephane Richard (pictured), chairman and CEO of Orange, described the company’s first-quarter 2014 performance as “very strong”, as it managed its costs in order to protect margin in the face of falling revenue.

The executive said that the company “benefits from the efficient segmentation of its offers as well as its investment in very high-speed broadband – fibre and 4G – which enable the group to differentiate itself from the competition”.

In order to protect its margins against tough competition and falling revenue, Orange has made cost control efforts in a number of areas including reducing subsidies, withdrawing from indirect distribution channels in some markets (thereby cutting commissions), and reducing its staff costs.

The company noted “very strong” mobile contract growth in France alongside accelerating fibre sales; mobile contract growth in Spain led by SIM-only propositions; a continued recovery in the Polish mobile business which started in Q4 2013; and “considerable” customer base growth in Africa and the Middle East.

For the quarter, restated EBITDA (excluding some one-off events) was €3.02 billion, down 3.8 per cent from €3.14 billion on a comparable basis, on revenue of €9.8 billion, down 3.8 per cent from €10.19 billion.

Excluding the impact of regulatory measures, group revenue decreased by 3 per cent.

Restated EBITDA margin was stable, as cost reductions offset a significant portion of the revenue decline.

Revenue for its core French operation was €4.81 billion, down 5 per cent from €5.07 billion. Mobile service revenue decreased by 9.7 per cent to €1.95 billion, as the company continued to suffer in the face of tough competition in its home market.

Mobile service revenue in Spain decreased by 16.2 per cent. Providing something of a positive, 4G subscriber numbers “nearly doubled in three months to 1.0 million”.

The company also saw a sharp sales decline (7.9 per cent) in its Polish operation, to €716 million from €777 million. Mobile service revenue fell by 6.2 per cent to €344 million, “largely due to the impact of regulatory measures”, otherwise “the impact of price reductions was offset almost entirely by strong commercial momentum”.

Revenue for the Rest of the World segment declined 1.2 per cent to €1.87 billion, although this was “stable” excluding the impact of regulatory measures.

Orange ended the period with 181.7 million mobile customers, an increase of 5.8 per cent year-on-year (equivalent to 9.9 million net adds).

Africa and the Middle East had a total of 91.3 million mobile service customers, an increase of 11.4 per cent year-on-year (9.4 million net additions).

Orange confirmed its target of €12 billion to €12.5 billion in restated EBITDA for the full year. It also noted it is following “a policy of selective acquisitions by concentrating on markets in which it is already present”.