France Telecom net profit up by 28%

PanARMENIAN.Net - France Telecom has announced its fourth-quarter and full-year financial results, announcing a slight drop in 4th-quarter revenues on a comparable basis to EUR11.73 billion (US$16.1 billion). For the full year, revenues dropped by 1.4% to EUR45.5 billion (US$62.4 billion), although net profit was up by 28% at EUR4.9 billion (US$6.7 billion).

The net profit was boosted by a EUR 870 million increase in net income from discontinued operations linked to the establishment of Everything Everywhere, a joint venture between Orange and T-Mobile in the UK, along with a EUR 206 million improvement in net financial income generated by the lower cost of financial debt and favorable foreign exchange rate effects.

There was also a EUR 487 million decrease in income tax; and an EUR 88 million decrease in operating income. The number of Group customers at the end of the year were up by 6.0% year on year on a comparable basis to 209.6 million.

Revenues in France rose 0.8% in 2010, with the second half (+1.3%) marked by very strong sales of mobile services (+6.9%) led by data services and handset sales, and the rebound of ADSL continuing in the 4th quarter, with the share of net additions improving significantly for the second consecutive quarter to an estimated 36.0%, after reaching 28.2% in the 3rd quarter.

In Spain, the improvement seen in the previous quarters continued, producing annual growth of 2.8%, due to steady growth in mobile services (+3.6% for the year) and improvement in fixed services sales, which were up 1.9% in the 2nd half.

In Poland, the success of segmented offers in mobile services resulted in renewed growth of the customer base (+4.5% at 31 December 2010) and a 4.3% increase in revenues in the second half.

In the Rest of World segment, Africa and the Middle East (excluding Egypt) showed continued strong growth at +8.8% for the year, with new operations in Africa4 up sharply (+37%); Europe rose 0.9% for the year on continued strong growth in Belgium (+5.6%), while Romania showed improvement (-7.8%) after the sharp downturn in the previous year (-16.7%), cellular-news reports.

According to the latest data, Orange Armenia’s investments have totaled euro 150 million since November 2008. “The company is planning to cover operating expenses through sales revenues starting the next year. The turnover in October totaled AMD 1 billion, the monthly proceeds from one subscriber being AMD 1500 - 2000 and AMD 7 000 - 9 000 in case of internet subscription,” Orange Armenia CEO Bruno Duthoit told journalists last November .