Orange has said that a proposed IPO of EE, the UK’s largest mobile operator, will not happen until next year, so allowing time for the operator to work at the company’s financial performance, according to Reuters.

“We have mandated banks with the aim of doing an IPO of 30 per cent of EE, but neither owner Deutsche Telekom or ourselves are in a rush,” said Orange’s chief financial officer Gervais Pellissier, speaking at the company’s second-quarter results this week.

Earlier in the week, loss-making EE reported its first-half results. Although it still delivered an operating loss, the figure was an improvement over the same period in 2012. And its margins were also better than last year’s.

Reports at the start of the year said EE was planning a stock market listing before the end of 2013.

Pellissier’s quotes also showed the partners are eyeing a potential 30 per cent offering, leaving Orange and Deutsche Telekom as majority owners of EE. An IPO would likely put a value on EE of about £10 billion.