Orange weathers Q2 pricing competition, sees investments in Spain
Recasts, adds details on Spanish operations
By Olivier Sorgho and Leo Marchandon
July 24 (Reuters) -French telecom operator Orange ORAN.PA reported higher second-quarter core earnings on Wednesday helped by growth in Africa and the Middle East, and price hikes in Europe.
It also unveiled plans to create an infrastructure-sharing company with Vodafone in Spain, as it increasingly bets on the Spanish market.
Core profit after leases rose 2.6% year-on-year to 3.11 billion euros ($3.37 billion), slightly above a company-provided consensus that had expected 3.10 billion.
That was helped by Africa and the Middle East where sales grew 10.3%. In Europe, they fell 2.2%, but Orange still made a profit there, as it raised prices while some rivals have cut them.
An Orange mobile package in France costs about 27 euros, while rival Free's offer costs about 11 euros, and SFR's about 14 euros, according to a report by telco website Zone ADSL.
"We have no room and no environment to do a 'big bang' price increase," CEO Christel Heydemann said. In the second half of 2024, Orange would further benefit from existing price hikes in France, she added.
Orange has lost some broadband customers in its home market, also due to inflation. Overall, it gained a net 104,000 mobile customers in France, mainly through its low-cost brand Sosh. But it lost some fixed broadband customers.
SPAIN IN FOCUS
Orange announced a non-binding agreement with Vodafone Spain to create a joint fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) company covering 4 million customers.
The partnership would focus on sharing telecom infrastructure, but the companies would retain separate commercial services.
Orange would hold 50%, Vodafone up to 10%, and they would look to attract an infrastructure fund as an additional investor, the CEO said.
"If we talk about investments, Spain will be our top priority," Heydemann told reporters.
Earlier this year, Orange completed a closely-watched merger of its Spanish business with Spain's MasMovil, creating the country's biggest mobile operator in a 50-50 joint venture called MasOrange.
"MasOrange's network plan will likely increase competition for Telefonica in our opinion," ING wrote in a note.
European telcos have for years fought hurdles that prevent mergers, while regulators worry about the impact on prices.
Heydemann said that in Spain, Orange had no plans to further increase prices.
The group confirmed its full-year guidance.
($1 = 0.9217 euros)
Reporting by Olivier Sorgho and Leo Marchandon; Editing by Alex Richardson, Barbara Lewis and David Evans
Aset Terkait
Berita Terbaru
Pengungkapan: Entitas XM Group menyediakan layanan khusus eksekusi dan akses ke Fasilitas Trading Online kami, yang memungkinkan Anda untuk melihat dan/atau menggunakan konten yang tersedia pada atau melalui situs, yang tidak untuk mengubah atau memperluas, serta tidak mengubah atau memperluas hal tersebut. Akses dan penggunaan ini selalu sesuai dengan: (i) Syarat dan Ketentuan; (ii) Peringatan Risiko; dan (iii) Pengungkapan Penuh. Oleh karena itu, konten disediakan hanya sebagai informasi umum. Anda juga harus ketahui bahwa konten Fasilitas Trading Online kami bukan sebagai ajakan atau tawaran untuk untuk melakukan transaksi apa pun di pasar finansial. Trading di pasar finansial mana pun melibatkan tingkat risiko yang signifikan pada modal Anda.
Semua materi yang diterbitkan di Fasilitas Trading Online kami hanya untuk tujuan edukasi/informasi dan tidak boleh mengandung nasihat dan rekomendasi finansial, pajak investasi atau trading, catatan harga trading kami, penawaran, permintaan, transaksi dalam instrumen finansial apa pun atau promo finansial untuk Anda yang tidak diminta.
Konten pihak ketiga apa pun, serta konten yang disiapkan oleh XM, seperti opini, berita, riset, analisis, harga, informasi lain atau link ke situs pihak ketiga yang tersedia "sebagaimana adanya", sebagai komentar pasar umum dan bukan menjadi nasihat investasi. Sejauh konten apa pun ditafsirkan sebagai penelitian investasi, Anda harus memperhatikan dan menerima bahwa konten tersebut tidak dimaksudkan dan belum disiapkan sesuai dengan persyaratan hukum yang dirancang untuk mempromosikan kemandirian riset investasi dan dengan demikian akan dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah hukum dan peraturan yang relevan. Mohon dipastikan bahwa Anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi pada Riset Investasi Non-Independen dan Peringatan Risiko kami mengenai informasi di atas, yang dapat diakses disini.
