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Orange Q3 EBITDA, Revenue Fall; Backs Full-year Profit View(dpa-AFX International Compact Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French telecom giant Orange SA (ORAN), previously known as France Telecom, Thursday reported lower Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization or EBITDA and decreased revenues for the third quarter. However, operating costs declined significantly. The company also backed its full-year profit forecast. On a comparable basis, restated Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization or EBITDA slipped to 3.245 billion euros ($4.10 billion) from 3.322 billion euros in the prior year. Revenue declined to 9.805 billion euros from 10.031 billion euros. Excluding the impact of regulatory measures, the slide was 1.4 percent. Revenue dropped 3.1 percent in France to 4.826 billion euros. The company added a record 65,000 new fiber customers in France this quarter, and expects to exceed the 3 million mark for 4G customers before year end. The revenue decline was 6.1 percent in Spain at 977 million euros, while Poland generated 730 million euros, down 3.6 percent from last year. Orange reported 182.1 million mobile services customers at September 30, a growth of 6.2 percent, led by Africa and the Middle East. Operating costs dropped by 660 million euros on a comparable basis, offsetting 69 percent of the decline in revenues. While Direct costs fell 4.3 percent, indirect costs declined 2.5 percent. Orange noted that its target of reducing indirect costs by at least 300 million euros by the end of 2014 has already been achieved as at September 30. Looking ahead, for the full year, the company confirmed its target of restated EBITDA in the range of 12.0 billion euros to 12.5 billion euros. The restated EBITDA margin is expected to remain stable compared to 2013. The stock is up 1.8 percent in early morning trade in Paris at 11.11 euros. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX |