Orange Q2 core operating profit falls 0.4% on lower Spanish sales

PARIS: Orange, France's biggest telecom firm, reported a 0.4% drop in its second-quarter core profits on Thursday, as cut-throat competition continued to hurt sales in Spain and domestic co-investment deals generated lower revenue.

The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after leases (EBITDAaL) fell to 3.27 billion euros ($3.88 billion).

This slightly beat the company-compiled 3.26 billion-euro average estimate of 17 analysts.

French telco Orange says to recover 2.2bn euros in tax

Quarterly revenue rose 2.6% to 10.6 billion euros from a year earlier and beat market expectations, thanks to good performance in Africa and Middle East.

Orange confirmed its full-year targets, including a slight decline in core operating profit and an underlying cash flow from telecom activities of over 2.2 billion euros.

It also confirmed the targets for 2023, which include underlying cash flow from telecom activities of between 3.5 billion euros and 4 billion euros.