Orange TV growth slows but base passes 10 million

Orange saw its TV customer base pass the 10 million mark in the second quarter, but growth was at a slower rate than the prior year’s performance.

The overall Orange IPTV and satellite TV base numbered 10.049 million at the end of June, up from 9.993 million in Q1 and up 4.6% year-on-year, compared with a year-on-year growth rate of 7.4% in Q1.

In France, Orange’s TV base rose to 7.395 million, up from 7.308 million in Q1. In Spain, however, where the company has been hit by the absence of football and the prevalence of low-cost price competition, the telco saw its TV base decline from 698,000 to 672,000.

Orange’s TV base in other European markets fell slightly quarter-on-quarter, from 1.986 million to 1.981 million. In Poland, TV numbers rose by 2,000 to 996,000. Its Belgian base also rose by 2,000 to 247,000. However, its central European TV base outside Poland fell by 9,000 to 738,000.

Overall, Orange posted Q2 revenues of €10.375 billion, down 0.4% on a like-for-like basis, while EBITDAaL fell by 1.8% to €3.312 billion.

The company characterised its Q2 performance as “very resilient” in the face of the COVID-29 pandemic.

“Orange has shown a remarkable level of resistance in the first half of the year, despite the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a 0.3% increase in revenues and a contained decrease in EBITDAaL of 0.8%. These results bear witness to our business’ resilience and its capacity for collective mobilisation in the face of this crisis,” said chairman and CEO Stéphane Richard.

Richard said that the French “commercial dynamic is good” with strong fibre additions, while in Spain, “the situation remains challenging given the market’s slide towards low cost” but the company’s adaptation to market conditions was “now showing its first results”.