latest key figures: 2011, 3rd quarter results

-    strong commercial performance
-    stable revenues in the first nine months of the year
-    operating cash flow target raised slightly

The France Telecom-Orange Group had a total of 221.0 million customers at 30 September 2011, up 6.3% year on year on a comparable basis
•    in France, mobile services market share stabilized at 40.5% at 30 September 2011*, despite strong competitive pressure, while ADSL market share net adds significantly improved to an 35.3% in the third quarter of 2011*

Consolidated revenues for the first nine months of the year were 33.848 billion euros, stable compared to a year earlier (+0.1% on a comparable basis and excluding regulatory measures). The decrease of  0.5% in the third quarter was due to:
•    the revenue decline in France (-2.8% versus -0.5% in the second quarter, excluding the impact of regulatory measures) reflected slower growth in mobile revenues, mainly related to a drop in mobile device sales
•    continuing momentum in Spain, with revenues rising 7.4%, excluding the impact of regulatory measures
•    the revenue decline in Poland was limited to 1.7% after a drop of 3.8% in the second quarter excluding the impact of regulatory measures, with the 2.1 percentage point improvement due to both mobile and fixed services. Mobile market share by value was resilient at 30.8% in the third quarter* 
•    continued growth in operations in Africa and the Middle East, with underlying revenue growth of 6.1%, excluding Egypt and Côte d’Ivoire, and excluding the impact of regulatory measures

Restated** EBITDA  was 11.611 billion euros, with a margin decrease of 1.4 percentage points. Significant improvement in the third quarter of 2011, with margin erosion limited to -1.2 points, was due to a proactive strategy to control commercial expenses, particularly in France

CAPEX was equal to 11.0% of revenues, representing 3.731 billion euros of investment in the first nine months of 2011, a 7.5% increase on a comparable basis on the previous year

Restated operating cash flow** (EBITDA - CAPEX) for the first nine months of 2011 was 7.880 billion euros. The Group is therefore able to raise its operating cash flow target for 2011, now estimated at slightly more than 9 billion euros***


*company estimate
**restatements are described on pages 2 and 3
***excluding exceptional items




Commenting on the results for the first nine months of 2011, Stéphane Richard, France Telecom-Orange Chairman and CEO, said: “The results for the third quarter continued the solid performance seen in the first half and highlight the resilience of the Group against a backdrop that remains challenging. In France, the good performance reflects the success of our Open and Origami offers and we expect this favorable trend to be maintained following the launch of the Sosh brand at the start of October. We continue to have strong growth in Spain despite the economic conditions, with revenues up more than 7% in the quarter.
While the situation remains complex in Egypt, our activities in the other emerging markets grew almost 4.5%. At the same time, we are reinforcing our position in Africa and the Middle East with the recent acquisition of CCT in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s fourth most populous country. Today, the Group has 221 million customers and is on track to reach our target of 300 million in 2015. Overall, the results for the first nine months demonstrate France Telecom–Orange’s financial strength, which remains the key to our continued development, and confirms the relevance of our strategic plan, Conquests 2015.”

read the press release of 2011, October 27