Stock market today: Stocks fall as investors rotate out of tech into Jackson Hole
Investing.com -- Orange SA (EPA:ORAN) lifted its full-year guidance on Wednesday after reporting a rise in its core earnings for the second quarter, driven by continued momentum in its Africa and Middle East operations.
Still, the company’s shares slipped 1% at the market open in Paris.
The French telecoms group now expects EBITDAaL, a common measure of core profit used by telecom operators, to grow by more than 3% this year, slightly above its earlier forecast of around 3%. Its target for organic cash flow from telecom activities remains unchanged at a minimum of 3.6 billion euros.
In the second quarter, EBITDAaL climbed 4.2% to 3.195 billion euros ($3.70 billion), fueled largely by a 13% revenue increase in the Africa and Middle East region. Revenue for the group held steady at 9.94 billion euros, with a 0.2% gain in Europe and a 3.1% drop in France.
First-half EBITDAaL rose 3.8% to 5.66 billion euros, broadly in line with market expectations.
Orange also said its Spanish fibre joint venture remains on track. “This will be completed in terms of signing by the end of the summer, and then the closing will be before the end of the year,” CFO Laurent Martinez told reporters on a call.
The company announced an interim dividend of 30 euro cents, unchanged from a year earlier.