PARIS: Orange, France’s biggest carrier, reported on Wednesday a slightly better-than-expected quarterly core profit as strong growth in Africa and the Middle East helped once again offset a slowdown in the domestic market.
The company posted adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDAaL) of 3.6 billion euros ($4.2 billion) in the quarter ended December.
Analysts had expected an average of 3.3 billion euros, according to a consensus survey compiled by the company.
Orange is looking to expand in Europe as regulators prepare to ease rules on cross-border trade approvals.
The company is set to become Spain’s largest operator after agreeing to take full control of operatorMasOrange, and is part of a consortium in talks to buy most of rival Altice’s operations in France.
The group’s fourth-quarter sales rose 2.2% to 10.5 billion euros, beating analysts’ expectations of 10.4 billion euros.
In France, its largest market, oranges continue to face intense price competition. Annual revenue fell 2.1% year over year as the network’s migration from copper to fiber took a toll on wholesale services.
The company will outline its financial forecasts from 2026 to 2028 and its new strategy at a Capital Markets Day event in Paris on Thursday. ($1 = 0.8467 Euro) (Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Leo Marchandon; Editing by Joe Bavier)
