The French telecoms giant Orange recorded a turnover increase of 1.3% in the first quarter, to 10.62 billion euros, driven in particular by the Africa and Middle East zone and tariff increases in Europe, according to a statement released Wednesday.
Over the period, the gross operating surplus after rents (Ebitdaal), the group's main profitability indicator, was almost stable (+0.5%), reaching 2.59 billion euros.
This performance is "
in line with the objective of slight growth in 2023
" of Ebitdaal, presented when the strategic plan was announced last February, underlined Orange.
For 2023, Orange also confirms the objective of an organic “
cash flow
” (cash flow) from telecom activities of at least 3.5 billion euros.
With growth of 9.1% over one year (+141 million euros), the Africa and Middle East region is still the main driver of growth in the group's turnover.
In France, its main market, revenues fell by 1.8%, despite the growth in turnover from retail services (+0.6%).
In Europe, where Orange is present in seven countries, sales jumped 3.8%, driven by retail services and price increases made in 2022.
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Orange Business down slightly
The turnover of Spain confirms its return to growth in the first quarter (+2.8%), while the French operator hopes to finalize in the second half of its project to merge its Spanish subsidiary with MasMovil.
The turnover of the branch dedicated to companies ("
Orange Business
") is down slightly by 0.7%, while Orange management is considering the elimination of around 670 positions within its historical activities in France .
Orange Business wants to propose a collective conventional break, which requires obtaining a majority agreement with the trade unions.
At the same time, Orange Business initiated a “
training and retraining program
” for 5,000 employees in digital professions (virtualisation, cloud, data, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity) and launched a recruitment program for 800 cybersecurity experts.
The turnover of Totem, the European company of Orange which owns and manages the passive mobile infrastructures of telecommunications towers in France and Spain, reached 174 million euros in the 1st quarter, up 8.1%.
