Orange sees TV base decline in second quarter

Orange saw its global TV base declined for the second sequential quarter in Q2. The operator had 11.56 million IPTV and satellite TV customers at the end of the period, down from 11.7 million in March and down from 11.77 million in December.

The number was up year-on-year, from 10.49 million in June 2021, when it posted a retroactive correction of minus 169,000 subscribers for the second quarter of last year.

Orange saw a decline in its TV base in France, where it had 7.85 million TV customers at the end of June, own from 7.93 million in March.

In Europe outside of France, the operator saw its base decline to 3.72 million, down from 3.77 million in March but up from 2.7 million at the same point last year, before its acquisition of Telekom Romania.

Spain remains stable

In Spain, where Orange faces strong competition but recently received a major boost from a merger agreement with MásMóvil, it saw its TV base remain stable, standing at 693,000 at the end of June, down just 2,000 subscribers on the March number.

In Poland, its local subsidiary saw its TV base decline from 978,000 in March to 970,000 in June.

Orange saw a small decline in its TV base in Belgium and a significantly larger decline in central and eastern Europe, including its Telekom Romania acquisition, where its overall TV base for the region declined from 1.8 million, to 1.77 million quarter-on-quarter.

Overall, Orange was able to maintain its financial objectives after posting revenues of €10.7 billion, flat year-on-year, and EBITAaL of €3.3 billion.

“In an environment still marked by the health crisis, geopolitical uncertainty and the effects of inflation, Orange has once again proven its resilience in the first half of 2022 both in terms of commercial momentum and in respect of its main financial indicators,” said CEO Christine Heydemann who noted “improved customer satisfaction and a reduction in churn” in Spain and a positive response to fibre and 5G rollouts in France.

Analysts from Jefferies noted that the results were in line with expectations except for Orange’s enterprise business, where earnings were down significantly.