April 24 (Reuters) - French telecom operator Orange reported first-quarter core operating profit in line with expectations on Wednesday, as its Africa and Middle East regions posted strong revenue growth for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Telecoms groups raised prices to offset the impact of inflation amid a less dynamic market, and Orange recently reduced the duration of promotions from 12 to six months in France.

"France has returned to growth, and this is a very important factor, with sales up by 0.8%," Chief Financial Officer Laurent Martinez said in a call with journalists, adding that the last time France witnessed growth was in the last quarter of 2022.

He added that prices had followed a good trend globally and in France.

Orange said its revenue in France, which reached 4.34 billion euros in the quarter, was mainly boosted by the growth in retail services.

Africa and the Middle East region, the main contributor to growth in the quarter, saw revenue increase by 11.1% to 1.85 billion euros due to the performance of retail services.

Orange's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after leases (EBITDAaL) rose 2.3% on a comparable basis to 2.41 billion euros ($2.58 billion) in the three first months of the year, compared with a forecast of 2.40 billion euros in a company-compiled poll.

These numbers exclude Orange Spain, which has been deconsolidated after the group completed the merger of its Spanish operations with Spain's Masmovil in March, creating the country's biggest mobile operator.

The group confirmed its financial targets for 2024, including low single-digit growth in EBITDAaL and organic cash flow of at least 3.3 billion euros from telecom activities. ($1 = 0.9342 euros) (Reporting by Diana Mandiá; Editing by Varun H K and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)