Orange sees TV growth but faces tough 2013

Orange had 5.7 million TV subscribers across Europe at the end of September, up 17.5% year-on-year, with most of the growth coming from France and Poland. The TV figure included both IPTV and satellite homes.

Orange had a total of 14.8 million fixed broadband subscribers at the end of the third quarter, up 4.1% year-on-year.
In France, Orange’s digital TV base grew by 18.4% to 4.882 million, while its fixed broadband base grew by 3.7% to 9.827 million, including 144,000 fibre-to-the-home customers.

In Poland, TV subscribers grew by 12.9% year-on-year to 695,000, while fixed broadband customers rose by 0.2% to 2.338 million.

Overall, Orange said it expected a more difficult environment in 2013 than it had initially expected thanks to poor macroeconomic conditions, competition in the French mobile market and continued regulatory pressure. Operating cash flow for the next year is expected to be in the range of €7 billion, with a return to OCF growth forecast for 2014.