Positive results despite impact of Covid-19 and strained competitive environment
Press release
Embargo until 21 April 2021 at 7:00 am
Regulated information – Inside information
Financial information for the first quarter 2021
Positive results despite impact of Covid-19 and strained competitive environment
- Mobile postpaid customer base +3.0% yoy / Cable customer base +24.8% yoy
- Q1 Revenues -1.0% yoy / Q1 Retail service revenues +1.9% yoy
- Q1 EBITDAaL +12.8% yoy, +4.6% yoy excluding seasonality effect
- 2021 guidance confirmed
| Q1 Operational Highlights |
|
| Orange Belgium: key operating figures | |||
| Q1 2020 | Q1 2021 | change | |
| Mobile postpaid customer base (in ‘000) | 2,588 | 2,664 | 3.0% |
| Net adds (in ‘000) | 9 | 23 | 160.5% |
| Mobile only postpaid ARPO (€ per month) | 20.3 | 19.6 | -3.4% |
| Cable customer base (in ‘000) | 280 | 349 | 24.8% |
| Net adds (in ‘000) | 21 | 23 | 6.8% |
| B2C convergent ARPO (€ per month) | 75.9 | 73.8 | -2.8% |
| Cable customer as % mobile contract customer base | 17.4% | 21.3% | 386 bp |
| Q1 Financial Highlights |
|
| Orange Belgium Group: key financial figures | |||||
| in €m | Q1 2020 | Q1 2021 | change | ||
| Revenues | 333.9 | 330.4 | -1.0% | ||
| Retail service revenues | 224.8 | 229.0 | 1.9% | ||
| EBITDAaL | 62.2 | 70.1 | 12.8% | ||
| margin as % of revenues | 18.6% | 21.2% | 260 bp | ||
| eCapex 1 | -35.1 | -36.1 | 2.6% | ||
| Operating cash2 | 27.0 | 34.1 | 26.0% | ||
| Net financial debt | 229.0 | 122.6 | |||
- eCapex excluding licence fees. In Q1 2020 Orange Belgium paid 10.9 million euros on licence fees.
- Operating cash flow defined as EBITDAaL – eCapex excluding licence fees
Xavier Pichon, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
The first quarter of the year was characterised by both an ever-straining competitive environment together with the extension of the Covid-19 policies. Our shops remained open but with limited capacity in accordance with the recommendations of the competent authorities.
Thanks to our Team members’ commitment, we were even able to offer an improved customer experience and to attract new customers with numbers comparable to pre-pandemic levels.
Despite the challenges we are facing, Orange Belgium has shown strong resilience and delivered solid commercial and financial results for this quarter.
Antoine Chouc, Chief Financial Officer, stated:
The positive commercial performance also resulted in good financial results. Despite the sanitary crisis, we were once again able to grow in terms of retail service revenues, confirming the resilience of our activity. Thanks to our transformation programme, seasonality effect in our indirect costs as well as the one-off in roaming, we managed to improve the EBITDAaL in comparison to the first quarter of 2020.
The first quarter gives us the necessary assurance that we will achieve our guidance announced last quarter.
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