Telecom Lead Europe: France Telecom-Orange says its Capex in Q1 2013 rose 6.5 percent to €1.15 billion.
This was mainly due to the acceleration of investment in fixed and mobile high‑speed broadband services (fiber and 4G), particularly in France.
Investment in networks rose 9.2% with the development of strategic projects.
In France, the company invested in optical fiber deployment and high‑speed mobile broadband, with 15 urban areas including 50 towns already covered by 4G technology and speeds of up to 150 Mbps.
In Spain, the mobile operator invested in network transformation programs with the renewal of the access network and increased investment in capacity.
In Poland, it delivered 1.2 million fixed broadband lines as per the agreement with the Polish regulator and the increased mobile network sharing program.
The ratio of Capex to revenues was 11.2 percent, an increase of 1.1 percent, France Telecom-Orange said.
The European telecom operator says it posted 2.6 percent increase in users to reach 229.8 million customers at 31 March 2013.
The mobile customer base in France rose 1.3 percent year on year to achieve mobile market share of 37 percent.
In Spain, mobile contracts rose 9.7 percent while the ADSL customer base increased 11.1 percent.
In Africa and the Middle East, mobile services reached 82 million users, up 8.2 percent.
France Telecom-Orange revenues declined 4.1 percent to €10.28 billion.
In France, the decline in mobile services revenues was 2.9 percent in the first quarter of 2013, affected by price reductions and the development of SIM-only offers.
In Spain, revenues rose by 3.3 percent, 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 percent in the first quarter of 2013, while fixed broadband climbed 9.3 percent.
In the rest of Europe, revenues increased 2.6 percent, lifted by mobile Internet browsing and smartphone sales.
In Africa and the Middle East, revenues grew 3.3 percent, led by Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Guinea and Niger.
In the Enterprise segment, revenues declined 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2013 due to intensified competition and difficult economic conditions in Europe.
Business Outlook
The France-Telecom Orange Group is targeting to achieve operating cash flow of more than €7 billion in 2013. The Group targets net debt / EBITDA ratio of close to 2 at the end of 2014.
Picture source: romania insider.com
