Orange Belgium: First semester 2016 financial information
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
Key financial and commercial indicators continue to show progress
Orange Belgium now established as a national convergent operator under its new
brand
MVNO revenues secured for the next 3 years
Brussels, 20 July 2016 - Today, Orange Belgium Group (Euronext Brussels: OBEL)
publishes its results for the second quarter and first half of 2016. This
period, and in particular the second quarter of 2016, was a pivotal moment for
the company with the successful nationwide launch of the Orange internet + TV
offer in Belgium and the rebranding of Mobistar into Orange Belgium. The Orange
Belgium Group continued on its growth path with all key financial (mobile
service revenues, restated EBITDA and net financial debt) and commercial
indicators (postpaid ARPU and postpaid and cable customer base), showing
progress in the first half of 2016.
* On May 10, 2016, Mobistar was successfully rebranded into Orange Belgium,
whose mission is to connect everyone to what is essential to them, making
everyone's life a unique experience, every day. The rebranding into Orange
Belgium, combined with the launch of convergent offers, also reinforces the
position of Orange Belgium in the business segment by underpinning the
international strength of the Orange-portfolio.
* Following the unveiling of the Orange internet + TV offering in March 2016,
Orange Belgium commercially started offering its product nationwide as of
mid-May and became the first operator with access to the cable network at a
national scale in Belgium. At the end of June, Orange Belgium already stood
at 10.5 thousand households on its Orange internet + TV offering that on
average have 2 SIM-cards. Though in this first phase of the commercial
launch existing customers remained the primary target, the uptake of new
convergent subscriptions is already exceeding initial expectations. Orange
Belgium now aims at attracting an increasing number of customers every
quarter by communicating more specifically on the benefits of its convergent
offers and progressively through a commercialization in all distribution
channels.
* Orange Belgium's retail customer base development continued throughout the
second quarter of 2016, reaching 3.8 million customers. This was partly due
to the positive evolution of the postpaid customer base, which added 17.8
thousand customers, predominantly 4G smartphone users. In addition to the
increasing postpaid customer base, Orange Belgium also increased its
postpaid ARPU to 28.8 euros in the second quarter of 2016, from 27.9 euros a
year ago, an increase of 3.4 % year-on-year. Both metrics have increased for
the fifth quarter in a row.
* In the first half of 2016, the Orange Belgium Group generated mobile service
revenues of 504.5 million euros, a solid increase of 1.9 % compared with the
same period last year (i.e. +3.2 % excl. EU roaming regulation): the rapid
adoption of 4G data usage and the solid increase of both the postpaid
customer base and ARPU contributed substantially to this positive
development and fully offset the negative impact of the new Roaming IV
Regulation.
* The restated EBITDA increased by 2.0 % year-on-year to 144.9 million euros
in the first half of 2016 as a result of both the positive trend of the top
line and sustained focus on cost optimisation. Overall, it has to be noted
that the reversal of the 2015 Walloon pylon tax recently ruled
unconstitutional contributed to mitigate for the negative impact of EU
roaming, commercial launch of cable, increase in operational taxes and other
one-off costs related to the rebranding in the second quarter of 2016.
* The organic cash flow in the first half of 2016 increased 4.8 % year-on-
year, compared to the first half of 2015, with net investments over the
period coming down 10.3 % compared to the same period last year. As a
consequence, the net financial debt at the end of the first half of 2016 was
reduced down to 369.9 million euros, compared to 499.8 million euros a year
ago, a decrease of 26.0 % year-on-year. This translates into a net financial
debt/EBITDA ratio of 1.1x at the end of June 2016, compared to 1.9x a year
ago.
* The Orange Belgium Group revised its restated EBITDA guidance for the year
2016 to between 285 and 305 million euros from between 270 and 290 million
euros, both excluding cable costs. This revised guidance corresponds to the
reversal of provision related to the Walloon pylon tax for the year 2015.
* Orange Belgium and Telenet agreed upon the terms and conditions for the
termination of the full MVNO, contract initially signed in 2012, by which
Telenet committed to a minimum payment of 150.0 million euros (excluding
VAT) over the 3-year period 2016-2018. The actual amount paid by Telenet
could however exceed this minimum amount in case of higher network usage.
Beyond 2018, an optional 6-month extension period has been granted for a
minimum payment of 15.0 million euros (excluding VAT).
Orange Belgium Investor Relations
For the full PDF version, please click here below:
H1 2016 results - FR:
http://hugin.info/134974/R/2029495/754640.pdf
H1 2016 results - NL:
http://hugin.info/134974/R/2029495/754641.pdf
H1 2016 results - UK:
http://hugin.info/134974/R/2029495/754638.pdf
This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of
GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Orange Belgium via GlobeNewswire
[HUG#2029495]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 20.07.2016 - 07:02 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 484199
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Town:
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Kategorie:
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"Orange Belgium: First semester 2016 financial information"
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