PARIS (Reuters) – Orange, France’s biggest telecoms operator, said third-quarter core operating profit dropped by 0.7% from a year earlier, as sales from lucrative co-investment deals in its home country retreated.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation after leases (EBITDAaL) fell to 3.55 billion euros ($4.13 billion), in spite of a rise in its number of customers in France and Spain, its two biggest markets.
This matched the average forecast in a company-compiled poll. Sales over the period fell by 0.4% to 10.5 billion euros.
Orange confirmed its full-year targets, including for a slight decline in core operating profit and an underlying cash flow from telecom activities of over 2.2 billion euros.
($1 = 0.8593 euros)
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
