Orange France achieved a new record quarterly increase in FTTP subscriptions in the three months to December, improving on the healthy customer gains of the previous quarter. The FTTP base rose by 388,000 since September, up from 360,000 net additions sequentially, to reach 4.52 million at end-2020 (+35.3% year-on-year). This was supported by ongoing footprint expansion, as the pace of fibre deployment picked up to a new high of 2.00 million new premises passed in the quarter (+1.62 million in Q3 and +1.70 million in Q4 2019).
The operator generated fourth-quarter revenues of EUR 4.74 billion, up 0.2 percent year-on-year on a like-for-like basis. The growth trend eased sequentially from 3.1 and 2.7 percent in the third and second quarter respectively. The wholesale business and the 'other revenues' category remained the drivers of growth, compensating for a decline in retail services and equipment sales.
The wholesale division saw revenues increase by 1.9 percent to EUR 1.45 billion, slowing from double-digit growth in the previous two quarters. Proceeds from the co-financing of fibre networks and the running of public initiative networks continued to offset a decline in roaming revenues, said the company.
'Other revenues' maintained a healthy growth trend, increasing 21.0 percent to EUR 169 million (+33.3% in Q3). As in previous quarters, this performance was supported by the 'built-to-suit' programme under the country's 'New Deal' mobile coverage strategy.
Retail service revenues contracted 1.3 percent to EUR 2.70 billion (-0.4% in Q3), of which EUR 1.16 billion was generated by the converged segment (+0.5%) and EUR 1.54 billion by mobile-only and fixed-only services (-1.2% and -3.3% respectively).
Equipment sales continued to recover sequentially after a weak third quarter (-9.8%) and a second quarter marked by the temporary closure of retail stores (-26.7%). The year-on-year trend remained negative, with revenues down 2.6 percent to EUR 427 million.
Orange’s strong commercial performance in the fibre market supported overall fixed broadband net additions, as over half of new FTTP sign-ups were new customers for the operator. The fixed broadband base rose by 105,000 to reach 11.96 million (+95,000 in Q3), when excluding Enterprise lines.
The postpaid base achieved 87,000 net additions since September, down from 125,000 sequentially but up from 47,000 in Q4 2019. Nearly 100 percent of Orange mobile sites offered LTE coverage at end-December, with a footprint reaching 99 percent of the French population.
Commenting on the Orange Bank venture, the company said that more than 90 percent of new French customers in the fourth quarter took paid-for product and services, up from 30 percent in the year-earlier period. The Orange Bank base across France and Spain reached almost 1.2 million at end-December, when including mobile insurance offers.
Looking at the full-year financial results, Orange France reported an EBITDAaL result of EUR 7.16 billion in 2020, up 0.2 percent year-on-year, while the EBITDAaL margin contracted by 0.5 percentage point to 38.8 percent. The company said that annual economic capex in France decreased to EUR 3.75 billion (-7.5% year-on-year), as a result of co-financing contracts with third parties.
