By Francois Giudice, Senior Correspondent, France

Orange group Financial information as at March 31, 2023, revealed that  its revenues grew 1.3 per cent  in the First quarter(Q1, 2023) compared with the first quarter of 2022 (+135 million euros) or US$149.21million) courtesy of growth in retail services (+2.8% or 219 million euros), fueled in particular by repricing in Europe and by the growth driver Africa and Middle East.

Cyber Era NG learns that Africa & Middle East was the principal propeller for this growth with a sharp 9.1 per cent increase in revenues (+141 million euros), followed by Europe with 3.8 per cent growth (+102 million euros), driven by Poland (+7.1%) and Spain, which has confirmed its return to growth (+2.8%) for the third consecutive quarter.

As per Orange group, Revenues in France, however,  were 1.8 per cent lower (-78 million euros) as a result of the downward trend in wholesale in line with our expectations (-7.8%). This was partially offset by the increase in retail services excluding Satellite Telecommunications Network(STN) (at +2.1%, its low point for the year). “The recent repricing that will be fully effective as of the second quarter will progressively contribute to the growth in retail services,” stated Orange.

The slight 0.7 per cent decrease in Enterprise revenues (-14 million euros) continued to be driven by the sharp decline in fixed voice revenues (-11.6%), partially offset by growth in IT & Integration services revenues (+5.3%). Cyber Era NG understands the  groups’s recovery plan for this segment is ongoing.

In terms of commercial performance, the Group maintained its leadership position in convergence, with 11.6 million convergent customers across Europe (+0.6%), and its commercial momentum on mobile contracts and very high-speed fixed broadband. Mobile services had 243.4 million accesses (+5.0%), including 95.8 million contracts (+8.5%). Fixed services totaled 45.0 million accesses (down 2.7%), including 14.7 million very high-speed broadband accesses, that continued to grow strongly (+14.7%). Fixed narrowband accesses continued to decline (-14.2%).

At  March 31, 2023, Group EBITDAaL stood at 2,590 million euros, up 0.5 per cent, in line with the target of slight growth in 2023. The EBITDAaL margin for telecom activities, traditionally lower in the first quarter, was 24.7 per cent owing to a more severe seasonality effect this year related to the recognition of operating taxes, with the group saying the next few quarters will further benefit from the price increases introduced in early 2023. EBITDAaL from telecom activities was 2,625 million euros (+0.9%).

eCAPEX totaled 1,493 million euros in the first quarter of 2023, a decrease of 4.9 per cent year on year and in line with the target of a significant reduction in 2023. The number of households connectable to FTTH reached 66.6 million (+13.8%) and the FTTH customer base increased to 14.2 million (+15.1%).

The Group confirms its financial targets, in particular those for 2023, as presented at the Capital Market Day on 16 February:

• Slight growth in EBITDAaL
• Significant reduction in eCAPEX
• Organic cash flow from telecom activities of at least 3.5 billion euros
• Net debt/EBITDAaL ratio for telecom activities unchanged at around 2x in the medium term
• Proposed increase in the dividend for the 2023 financial year to 0.72 euros including an interim dividend of 0.30 euros in December 2023

Commenting on the publication of these results, Chief Executive Officer of the Orange group, Christel Heydemann, said: “The continued increase in revenues and EBITDAaL, as well as the decrease in eCapex compared to Q1 2022, are in line with our objectives for 2023 and reinforce our ambition for the years to come.

We have started to execute our “Lead the Future” strategic plan with an even more value-oriented commercial strategy thanks to the quality of our networks and services which, combined with our cost controls, allow us to partially offset inflation. Our performance is once again driven by the remarkable growth in Africa and the Middle East and our strong value-driven growth in Europe. This quarter our retail services returned to growth in Spain, a country that has now seen growth for three consecutive quarters, and we’ve had double-digit revenue growth in our Orange Money business in Africa. Both demonstrate the strength of the Group and our ability to respond to increased competitive pressure. In France, retail services continue to grow and this should further accelerate in the second half of the year due to the recent price increases. Finally, in the Enterprise segment, we are executing our transformation plan.

I would like to warmly thank all the Orange teams who strive every day to serve our customers well and are committed to the deployment of our “Lead the Future” strategic plan. Together, we will deliver our ambitions in terms of growth and long-term value creation.”