Orange Group again credited its revenue growth to its Africa and Middle East segments as units there demonstrated how the operator had responded to increased competitive pressure.
In a statement, Orange Group CEO Christel Heydemann detailed its commercial strategy which leveraged its quality networks and services with cost controls, enabling it to offset inflation.
The company saw double-digit growth in its Orange Money unit in Africa, as well as retail services returning to growth in Spain, “both demonstrate the strength of the group and our ability to respond to increased competitive pressure,” said Heydemann.
“Our performance is once again driven by the remarkable growth in Africa and the Middle East and our strong value-driven growth in Europe,” she added.
Q1 2023 group revenues were stagnant at €10.6 billion (up 1.3%), while EBITDAaL was also stagnant at €2.59 billion from €2.57 billion a year ago. Capex was down from €1.57 billion to €1.49 billion.
Focusing on Africa and the Middle East, the segment saw a 9.1% rise in revenues to €1.69 billion, as growth was experienced in all countries in the regions, and almost all units achieved double-digit growth.
Growth in Africa and the Middle East was down to the “rapid development” of retail services which raked in €1.5 billion, up year-on-year from €1.37 billion. Mobile service revenue grew 8.8% to €1.29 billion, fixed was up 13.1% to €202 million, and IT & Integration services was up 11.1% to €9 million.
The mobile customer base in these regions grew 5.1% year-on-year to 143.9 million, with an increase in the average mobile ARPO (average revenue per offer) of 3.2%.
