Orange reported a return to revenue growth in the second quarter, with sales up 1.7 percent to EUR 10.55 billion as commercial activity improved. The company said it saw a sharp rebound in equipment sales and sustained performance in services, led by the MEA region, rest of Europe and enterprise business. This offset a drop in revenues in France and Spain. EBITDAal was still down 1.2 percent to EUR 3.27 billion, and Orange maintained its outlook for a lower result over the full year.
On an organic basis, quarterly revenues rose 2.6 percent and EBITDAal was down 0.4 percent. Africa and the Middle East showed the strongest growth, with an organic increase in revenues of 14.4 percent, while Europe excluding Spain rose 6.1 percent, and enterprise sales were up 2.1 percent, supported by the greater focus on IT and integration services. In Spain, the company slowed the annual decline in revenue to 2.7 percent from 7.4 percent in Q1, but France remained slightly lower, at a drop of 0.7 percent, impacted by co-financing received in the year-earlier period.
For the first half of 2021, Orange reported revenues up 0.5 percent to EUR 20.87 billion, and EBITDAal fell 1.3 percent to EUR 5.84 billion. The company recorded a net loss of EUR 2.61 billion due to an impairment charge of EUR 3.70 billion on goodwill in Spain, due to the deteriorating outlook there.
Capex excluding licences rose 22 percent year-on-year to EUR 3.85 billion after the sharp slowdown a year ago. Investment was led by fibre expansion and network upgrades in Africa and the Middle East. Organic cash flow from telecom activities still improved to EUR 840 million in the six months, due to changes in regulatory payments. Orange maintained its outlook for eCapex of EUR 7.7-7.8 billion over the full year and telecom cash flow of over EUR 2.2 billion.
