Orange revenues come under pressure in Q3

Orange has reported another decline in quarterly revenues even as its customer base grows.

The company said that revenues fell by four per cent to €10.16 billion (US$13.9 billion), after a 4.8 per cent fall in the previous quarter. Excluding the impact of regulatory measures, the decline would have been 2.4 per cent in the third quarter.

In France, revenues fell by 4.9 per cent, in Belgium down by 10.1 per cent and down by 2.6 per cent in Poland. Revenues rose though in Spain, by 6.9 per cent. In Africa and the Middle East, revenues grew 4.1 per cent led by Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Guinea and Senegal.

EBITDA fell by seven per cent to €3.37 billion.

Orange ended September with 232.5 million customers – a rise of 1.1 million. The increase in fixed broadband (190,000 net additions) offset the downturn in traditional fixed-line telephony.

The Africa and the Middle East division had a combined total of 84.6 million mobile customers at end-September, up 6.8 per cent year-on-year, mainly led by Mali, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire.