Orange Group claimed a “very satisfactory performance in the first half of 2015”, with Stephane Richard (pictured) noting a Q2 return to revenue growth “for the first time since 2011” – but this excludes regulatory impacts.

“This dynamic commercial activity is underpinned by significant investment in very high-speed fixed and mobile broadband and the Orange team’s daily commitment to our customers, both of which form part of our Essentials 2020 strategic plan”.

The company said that revenue rose 0.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2015, after falling 0.3 per cent in the first quarter, excluding the impact of regulatory measures. Including regulatory measures, Q2 revenue fell by 0.2 per cent to €9.89 billion on a comparable basis.

Restated EBITDA decreased 0.4 per cent on a comparable basis to €3.29 billion, but increased 0.9 per cent when excluding regulatory impact.

The company saw revenue declines across all of its core European markets (France, Spain and Poland), with Africa and the Middle East being strong in contrast. Orange noted a “rebound of the Enterprise segment” and the favourable development of mobile services, particularly in France and Spain.

Orange now has more than 12 million 4G customers in Europe, including 5.6 million in France, 3.5 million in Spain, and 1.3 million in Poland. In total, it has 189.8 million mobile subscribers as of 30 June, an increase of 6.9 per cent year-on-year, with Africa and the Middle East driving growth.

Richard said: “We continue to pursue our efforts to optimise our portfolio of operations. We have strengthened our presence in Europe with the acquisition of Jazztel in Spain and in Africa we have recently announced a promising project to acquire operations in four new countries.”

H1 results
For the first half, operating income of €2.26 billion was down 4.7 per cent (on a historic basis) from €2.38 billion, on revenue of €19.56 billion, down 0.2 per cent from €19.59 billion. Revenue was essentially flat when excluding regulatory impact.

Net income attributable to shareholders was €1.1 billion, up 89.2 per cent from €581 million.

The increase was attributed to factors including an increase in net income from discontinued operations (€441 million) related to EE, and a decrease in corporate income tax (providing a benefit of €194 million) following the sale of Orange Dominicana in the first half of 2014, offset in part by the reduction in operating income.

Net debt was €26.38 billion, “nearly stable” in relation to 31 December 2014, with a restated ratio of net financial debt to EBITDA of 2.13x, rather than 2.09x, “in line with the objective of a ratio of around 2x in the medium term”. It noted the planned disposal of EE will have an effect here.

It confirmed its target of “between €11.9 billion and €12.1 billion in restated EBITDA for the full year”, excluding the integration of Jazztel and Meditel, which will be consolidated in the group accounts for the second half of the year.