Solid revenue growth and strong EBITDAaL performance - EBITDAaL guidance improved

19 Jul 2024 07:00 CEST

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Embargo until 19 July 2024 at 7:00 am
Regulated information – Inside information

Financial information for the first semester 2024

            Solid revenue growth and strong EBITDAaL performance
            EBITDAaL guidance improved

• Mobile postpaid customer base +4.5 % yoy
• Cable customer base +4.5% yoy
• H1 Revenues +2.5% comparable¹ change yoy
• H1 EBITDAaL +13.9% comparable¹ change yoy

Operational Highlights

The company delivers a solid commercial performance The market experienced intensified competition in both mobile and broadband Mobile postpaid customer base increased by 74k, thanks to competitive positioning of our brands portfolio, and progressive activation of the Flemish Government service contract, bringing total subscribers to 3.4m (+4.5% yoy) Cable customer base increased by 18k, with an ending base exceeding 1 million customers (+4.5% yoy)

Orange Belgium: key operating figures	reported	comparable		reported	comparable
	H1 2023	H1 2023	H1 2024	change	change
Mobile postpaid customer base (in ‘000)	2 850	3 249	3 393	19.1%	4.5%
Net adds (in ‘000)	39	57	74	88.7%	30.1%
Cable customer base (in ‘000)	464	961	1 004	116.4%	4.5%
Net adds (in ‘000)	21	25	18	-16.0%	-29.8%

Financial Highlights

Total revenues reached €977.6m, increasing by +2.5% mainly thanks to an increase in retail service revenues EBITDAaL increased by +13.9% due to service revenue growth and a strong contribution from synergies, notably the migration of VOO mobile customers to the Orange network. Additionally, successful litigations and some seasonal cost effects improved this result eCapex grew by +7.2% to €180.1m, mainly explained by network deployment plans both in mobile and fixed

Orange Belgium Group: key financial figures	reported	comparable		reported	comparable
in €m	H1 2023	H1 2023	H1 2024	change	change
Revenues	740.5	953.6	977.6	32.0%	2.5%
Retail service revenues	532.1	766.7	794.2	49.2%	3.6%
EBITDAaL	178.8	221.9	252.9	41.5%	13.9%
EBITDAal margin as % of revenues	24.1%	23.3%	25.9%	173 bp	261 bp
eCapex2	-109.2	-168.0	-180.1	64.9%	7.2%
Adjusted Operating cash flow3	69.6	53.9	72.8	4.7%	35.2%
Net Cash provided by operating activities	177.9		279.6
Net profit (loss) for the period	-15.4		-17.7	14.8%
Net financial debt	2 115.5		1 907.0
Total borrowings	2 231.6		1 952.0

1. Comparable base includes VOO Revenues, eCapex and EBITDAaL and Adjusted Operating cash flow with interco elimination
2. eCapex excluding licence fees
3. Adjusted Operating cash flow defined as EBITDAaL – eCapex excluding licence fees
   
   

Xavier Pichon, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

We are thrilled with the good commercial dynamics we are delivering across both fixed and mobile segments. We even surpassed the milestone of 1 million broadband customers. Thanks to the rapid and successful integration of VOO within Orange Belgium, we have been able to deliver these positive results, demonstrating the strength and synergy of our combined operations. The teams’ excellent work made this outcome possible.

The market landscape is continually evolving, and we stay agile and responsive to maintain our momentum. The new portfolio that we launched in July is a strategic step forward, designed to further foster commercial dynamism and drive growth.

In our B2B activities, the gradual activation of our customer Flemish Government has also played a pivotal role in influencing these positive commercial results.

Overall, these developments position us well for sustained success, and we remain committed to leveraging our strengths to achieve our strategic goals.

Antoine Chouc, Chief Financial Officer, stated:

We are very pleased with our good financial performance this semester, which is largely driven by the realisation of the synergies and most of all through the transfer of the VOO customers to the Orange mobile network. The results were also impacted positively thanks to the benefit from winning litigations and seasonal effects. We have seen a positive impact from the year-over-year changes in energy prices, which has further bolstered our performance.

Additionally, we have taken this opportunity to increase our investments in both fixed and mobile segments, laying a solid foundation for future growth.

Our synergy initiatives are progressing well and remain on track, reflecting our ongoing commitment to optimizing operations and maximizing value creation. These efforts are essential as we continue to navigate a dynamic market environment and pursue our long-term objectives.

We are now confident that we will improve our guidance for EBITDAaL and slightly exceed €535m for the year (previously between €515m and €535m), while also adhering to our capex targets (between €365m and €385m).

Attachment

• OBEL H1 2024 EN 19072024

OBEL H1 2024 EN 19072024.pdf