By Leo Marchandon, Johan BODINIER
(Reuters) -French telecom operator Orange on Thursday reported first-quarter core profit in line with market expectations, citing good performance of its retail activities, which grew 2.4%.
Earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation and amortisation after leases – a common metric used by telecom firms to measure core profit – rose 3.2% to 2.48 billion euros ($2.81 billion) in the quarter ended March 31, in line with a company-compiled consensus forecast.
Orange CFO Laurent Martinez expressed confidence in the company’s business model due to its minimal exposure to tariffs and the U.S. economy, which have clouded the outlook for a wide range of industries and companies.
The operator announced a provision of 1.65 billion euros relating to the agreement signed with labour unions to recruit 6,000 new employees in France by 2027.
In a call with reporters, Martinez addressed the potential public listing of the group’s Spanish venture, Masorange, saying current conditions did not favour such a move.
The company said in a statement the agreement with Vodafone Espana to create a fibre network joint venture, is expected to be completed during summer 2025.
Orange reported 95.7 million of mobile customers worldwide while its number of fiber-to-the-home users globally reached 15 million.
It said its capital expenditure was up 6.6% year on year, reaching 14.8% of its revenue, in line with its 2025 target.
The telecom leader in France in terms of market share, also reaffirmed its financial targets for 2025.
($1 = 0.8822 euros)
(Reporting by Leo Marchandon and Johan Bodinier; Editing by Varun H K, Janane Venkatraman and Tomasz Janowski)
