France Telecom Q1 Revenues Down 2.7%, FTTH Rollout Planned for 2H

The France Telecom Group reported Q1 2010 revenues of 10.96 billion euros, down 2.7% compared to a year earlier. Excluding the impact of regulatory measures, the company said its decrease would have been 0.3%. EBITDA was 3.76 billion euros, a margin of 34.3%, down 1 point on a comparable basis.

“The Group again proved its ability to maintain its performance in terms of revenues and profitability against the backdrop of an economic and regulatory environment that remains difficult. France saw a slight improvement in revenues and the resumption of the fiber optic network deployment in more than 20 cities and towns,” stated Stéphane Richard, Chief Executive Officer of France Telecom.

Some highlights:

• The group now has 123.7 million mobile customers and 13.5 million broadband subscribers.
• In the Enterprise segment, revenues fell 6.1% (excluding equipment sales), marked by the migration towards Internet usage and the persistent slowdown in the services business.
• CAPEX of 874 million euros: the CAPEX rate to revenues was 8.0%, compared with 9.9% in the first quarter of 2009 on a comparable basis.
• CAPEX was stable in France. Investment in 3G mobile services increased in order to support the growth in data service volumes.
• The Group confirms its annual CAPEX rate objective of about 12% of revenues.
• France Telecom expects to ramp-up its FTTH rollout in France in the second half.

http://www.francetelecom.com