Orange raises cash flow target as domestic business bounces backOrange raises cash flow target as domestic business bounces back

The domestic operation posted full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after leases (EBITDAaL) of €6.39 billion, a 0.5% increase on 2023. Modest as that may be, it's a marked improvement compared to last year, when EBITDAaL of €6.36 billion represented a 3.6% decline on 2022.

The incumbent's CEO Christel Heydemann said "excellent network and service quality" at Orange France's retail operation was the primary reason for the achievement.

France is by some distance Orange's biggest single market. In 2024, it accounted for 44% of group revenue – which weighed in at €40.26 billion – and more than half of the group's €12.23 billion of EBITDAaL.

For the final three months of last year, group turnover inched up 0.5% on a like-for-like basis from 2023 to €10.43 billion, which isn't much to write home about. Things are looking better on the earnings front through – EBITDAaL increased 3.2% to €3.25 billion, beating Reuters analysts' consensus of €3.21 billion.

Revenue growth was once again driven almost entirely by the Africa and Middle East business, which saw Q4 sales jump 12.6% to €2.02 billion.

"The Africa and Middle East region once again delivered a robust performance, driven by its growth engines, namely mobile data, fixed broadband, B2B and Orange Money," said Heydemann. "Orange now has over 160 million mobile customers and almost 40 million Orange Money customers on the continent. Orange's activities are a genuine lever for economic development in these countries – progress from which the group also benefits."

Meanwhile, despite those aforementioned stronger earnings, revenue in France was actually down 0.6%, coming in at €4.57 billion. Rest of Europe fell 2.3% to €1.89 billion, while Orange Business fell 4.1% to just under €2 billion.

Nevertheless, Orange managed to achieve its full-year financial targets.

Organic cash flow from telco activities of €3.37 billion was in line with its guidance of "at least" €3.3 billion, while group EBITDAaL was up 2.7%, in line with expectations of low single digit growth. Net debt stood at €22.48 billion at the end of 2024, representing a ratio of net financial debt to EBITDAaL from telecom activities of 1.8x – just about beating its medium-term target ratio of 2x.

"These results clearly demonstrate the successful execution of our Lead the Future strategic plan," Heydemann said. "Group revenue and EBITDAaL growth, in line with objectives, was rooted in outstanding operational achievements, strong commercial momentum across all geographies and continued discipline on cost control."

Orange reiterated its 2025 guidance of around 3 percent EBITDAaL growth and a 2x net debt/EBITDAaL ratio. However, it has raised its organic cash flow from telecom activities target to at least €3.6 billion, up from its previous guidance of €3.5 billion.