Orange clocks mild Q3 revenue growth

The telco group said the Africa and Middle East region was the main contributor to the growth, with revenues rising 10.5% thanks to a a ‘robust performance’ in voice and increases in as increases from its ‘four growth engines’ – mobile data, fixed broadband, Orange Money and B2B.

Revenues in France increased 1.3% which it attributes to faster growth in retail services and a smaller decline in wholesale services. Europe however declined 2.1% due to wholesale services dropping 5%, and other low-margin activities, Orange said.

Group EBITDAaL for Q3 increased 2.7%, while EBITDAaL from telecom activities grew 2.4%, and eCAPEX was down 2.5%.

“I would like to highlight the remarkable work of our teams over this quarter, particularly during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Christel Heydemann, Chief Executive Officer of the Orange group. “It is a source of enormous pride for all of us to have successfully connected this amazing event with more than 3 billion spectators around the world.

“Our third-quarter results confirm our successful execution of the Lead the Future strategic plan. Our revenue growth of 1.6% and EBITDAaL growth of 2.7% are in line with the Group's guidance. These solid results are driven by excellent sales momentum and growth in retail services across all geographies.

“The strong third-quarter results demonstrate the soundness of our strategy, the great competence of our teams and the role we can play as our customers' trusted operator.” 

Following the results Orange says it has confirmed its financial targets for 2024, which include organic cash flow from telecom activities of at least 3.3 billion euros, low single-digit growth in EBITDAaL, and a ratio of net debt/EBITDAaL from telecom activities ‘unchanged at about 2x in the medium term.’