France Telecom-Orange reported second-quarter revenues down 3.7 percent from a year earlier to EUR 10.92 billion. The company said the sales trend improved in France in Q2, with revenues down just 4.5 percent, while sales in Poland were down 9.9 percent, due in part to forex effects. Sales dropped 6.2 percent in the 'rest of world', while Spain managed growth of 2.4 percent, supported by growth in the ADSL market.
The group had 224.2 million customers at the end of June, up 3.6 percent from a year earlier. The mobile customer base reached 165.7 million, up 6.2 percent, thanks to growth mainly in Africa and the Middle East, and fixed broadband subscribers were up 4.7 percent to 14.7 million.
Quarterly EBITDA was down 7.9 percent to EUR 3.57 billion, and the margin fell to 32.7 percent from 34.2 percent a year earlier. Over the first six months of 2012, net profit fell to EUR 1.74 billion from EUR 1.95 billion a year ago, and operating cash flow declined 11.7 percent to EUR 4.54 billion. Capex increased to 11.3 percent of revenues, or EUR 2.46 billion.
France Telecom maintained its target for operating cash flow of close to EUR 8 billion over the full year, while net debt should fall to 2 times EBITDA in the medium term, from 2.11 at the end of June. The company declared an interim dividend of EUR 0.58 per share, unchanged from a year earlier after taking into effect a new tax on dividends in France.
