Orange signalled the start of an easing in the fierce competition in France's telecoms market, after posting slightly better-than-expected second-quarter results on Thursday. Orange, France's biggest telecoms group, said it managed to stabilise sales in the country over the period, helped by its bundled offers for the broadband and mobile businesses following high investments on networks.
The French telecoms market has been struggling to escape from a spiral of heavy promotions since Iliad started to offer low-cost mobile services in 2012, prompting Orange and other rivals Bouygues Telecom and Altice Europe's SFR to follow suit. "We see some signs of improvement in the French market," said Chief Financial Officer Ramon Fernandez, referring to the competitive environment.
Its revenue over the period rose 0.5% from a year earlier on a comparable basis to 10.39 billion euros ($11.57 billion), beating the analyst consensus forecast for a decline of 0.4%. Core operating profits rose 0.9% to 3.38 billion euros. A strong performance by its Africa and Middle East region also shored up sales, with revenue growing by 5.8%.
With a core operating profit of 868 million euros in the first half, up 10.5% from a year earlier, the Africa and Middle East region is yielding more earnings than Spain, Orange's second-biggest market, where the heavy promotions have started to dent sales.
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