On a comparable basis, sales were up 0.8 percent, led by 8.5 percent growth in Spain, a 0.5 percent increase in Poland and 3.2 percent growth in the rest of central Europe. This offset a drop of 0.1 percent in France and 0.7 percent in Belgium & Luxembourg, hurt by the cuts to mobile roaming rates. Africa & the Middle East grew sales 0.7 percent on a comparable basis, with growth held back by negative calendar effects, Orange said.
The operator said demand in Europe for convergent offers, containing both fixed and mobile services, remained strong in the quarter, with 259,000 new subscribers added. The total rose by 11.2 percent year-on-year to 9.5 million convergent customers at the end of March.
The company also added a net 200,000 new broadband subscribers, led by new 362,000 fibre connections. The fixed broadband base was up 4.6 percent from a year ago on a comparable basis to 19.0 million customers, and fibre customers increased by 64 percent to 3.7 million.
In the mobile market, Orange added 298,000 contract customers in Q1 for a total postpaid base up 4.1 percent year-on-year, ands 4G customers in Europe were up 48 percent from a year ago to 29.5 million or 58.4 percent of the postpaid base. In Africa and the Middle East, net mobile sales improved significantly, with 2.7 million net additions in Q1, led in particular by Mali, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal. Orange Money had 30.8 million customers at the end of March, a 74 percent increase year-on-year.
Orange confirmed its outlook for higher adjusted EBITDA over the full year 2017. This will be supported by increased investment in services, including its upcoming launch of banking services in France. Capital expenditure in the first quarter was up 2.5 percent from a year ago to EUR 1.493 billion, including EUR 9 million for the launch of Orange Bank.
