FT reports 6% fall in revenues and 9% decline in EBITDA in Q1

France Telecom announced that Q113 revenues fell by 5.9 per cent to €10.3 billion (US$13.4 billion), while its EBITDA also fell by nine per cent to €3.1 billion as the company was hurt by intensive competition in its home market.

In France, the decline in mobile services revenues was 2.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, affected by price reductions and the development of SIM-only offers. In Spain, revenues rose by 3.3 per cent, led by growth in the fixed broadband and mobile services customer bases. In Poland, the decline in mobile services revenues was limited to 2.2 per cent in Q113, while fixed broadband climbed 9.3 per cent.

In the rest of Europe, revenues increased 2.6 per cent, lifted by mobile Internet browsing and smartphone sales. In Africa and the Middle East revenues grew 3.3per cent, led by Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Guinea and Niger.

The Group added 5.9 million customers year-on-year, taking its total to 229.8 million at the end of March.

In the Enterprise segment, revenues declined 5.3 per cent in Q1 due to intensified competition and difficult economic conditions in Europe.

Capital expenditure of €1.15 billion was up 6.5 per cent, with the acceleration of investment in fixed and mobile high-speed broadband services (fibre and 4G), particularly in France.

Looking ahead, the company confirmed that it is looking at possible acquisitions in its existing markets, but did not outline any possible targets.