Press release
Embargo until 20 July 2023 at 7:00 am
 Regulated information – Inside information

Financial information for the first semester 2023

Sustained financial and commercial performance

  • Mobile postpaid customer base (excl. VOO) +2.7% yoy
  • Cable customer base (excl. VOO) +11.4% yoy
  • H1 Revenues (incl. the month of June for VOO) +2.9% comparable1 change yoy
  • H1 EBITDAaL (incl. the month of June for VOO) +0.9% comparable1 change yoy
H1 Operational Highlights
(excl. VOO)
  • The commercial performance remained positive especially in postpaid, despite a competitive environment nationwide.
  • Mobile postpaid customer increased by 39k, thanks to the success of the Go portfolio as well as the hey! portfolio, bringing total subscribers to 2.85m (+2.7% yoy).
  • Cable customer base increased by 21k, with an ending base of 464k customers (+11.4% yoy).


Orange Belgium: key operating figures (excl. VOO)   
 Reported  
 H1 2022H1 2023change
Mobile postpaid customer base (in ‘000) 2 7752 8502.7%
Net adds (in ‘000) 333919.7%
Cable customer base (in ‘000) 41746411.4%
Net adds (in ‘000) 2221-5.3%
     


H1 Financial Highlights
(incl. VOO)
  • Total revenues reached €740.5m, including VOO for the month of June, increasing by +2.9%  on a comparable1 basis, thanks to a solid retail service revenue growth.
  • EBITDAaL increased by +0.9% on a comparable1 basis, as the higher retail service revenues are offset by the labour cost indexation and other impacts of inflation.
  • eCapex grew by +15.5% on a comparable1 basis to €109.2m, mainly explained by network upgrade and seasonality in the delivery of customer equipment.


Orange Belgium Group: key financial figures
(incl. the month of June for VOO)		reportedComparable1 reportedComparable1
in €mH1 2022H1 2022H1 2023changechange
Revenues677.3719.4740.59.3%2.9%
      
EBITDAaL166.8177.2178.87.1%0.9%
margin as % of revenues24.6%24.6%24.1%-49 bp-50 bp
eCapex2-86.0-94.6-109.227.0%15.5%
Adjusted Operating cash flow380.882.669.6-14.0%-15.8%
Net profit (loss) for the period26.723.4- 15.4-157.8%-165.7%
      
  1. Comparable base includes 1 month of VOO Revenues, eCapex and EBITDAaL and Adjusted Operating cash flow with interco elimination
  2. eCapex excluding licence fees.
  3. Adjusted Operating cash flow defined as EBITDAaL – eCapex excluding licence fees


Xavier Pichon, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

Orange Belgium has achieved a strong commercial performance over the semester. Furthermore, the closing of the acquisition of VOO has taken place in the beginning of June, marking a significant milestone for our organization.

While we still operate as separate legal entities, the integration efforts have started, and we are already functioning as a unified company in terms of our commercial approach, go-to-market strategies, and organizational structure. This achievement highlights our commitment to seamlessly merging our operations and capitalizing on the synergies this acquisition offers.

Looking ahead, our focus remains on executing the planned synergies to maximize our potential of value creation and secure the 3 pillars of “Lead the future” we recently announced:

  1. Our Future is defined by an outstanding multi-gigabit networks’ leadership.
  2. Our Future is defined by a Customer Experience Excellence, managing a multisegmented ecosystem and bringing our customers’ servicing assets back to Belgium.
  3. We care for people: a resilient, modern and responsible company with strong human and ESG values.

Antoine Chouc, Chief Financial Officer, stated:

I am pleased to announce the publication of our financial results for the first half of 2023, which include for the first time the figures of VOO for the month of June. We managed to limit the impact of the inflation on our margin thanks to a solid commercial performance, pricing adaptations and a tight cost control.

Following the acquisition, we have a strong focus on the execution of the synergies: the MVNO migration has already started, the first purchasing synergies are being unlocked and the common go-to-markets will create significant efficiencies.

We are convinced that the integration of VOO will unlock significant value and contribute to our overall growth strategy.

The figures presented in this report, remain limited due to the short inclusion period and it is important to note that the purchase price allocation, including the assessment of goodwill, has not yet been finalized.

Considering the inclusion of VOO figures for a period of seven months, with Orange Belgium accounting standards, we have restated our guidance for 2023. EBITDAaL will be between €430m and €450m, while the total eCapex is expected to be between €290m and €310m.

Attachment

  • OBEL S1 2023 EN Final