Orange Belgium (OBEL) H1 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Achieved a 4.5% increase in both mobile postpaid and cable customer bases, surpassing 1 million cable customers and reaching 3.4 million postpaid mobile customers in H1 2024, reflecting strong market share gains and commercial momentum.

• Completed the acquisition and integration of VOO, making it a fully owned subsidiary, streamlining operations, and enabling significant operational synergies.

• Became the first telecom provider in Belgium to offer a nationwide gigabit network, reaching 95% of households and positioning Belgium among Europe's top 1 Gbps countries.

• Nethys exchanged its VOO shares for a stake in Orange Belgium, altering the ownership structure and consolidating VOO as a subsidiary.

• Strategic initiatives included new mobile subscription portfolios, expanded refurbishment offers, and the launch of a no-code start-up program.

Financial highlights

• H1 2024 revenues reached €977.6 million, up 2.5% year-over-year on a comparable basis, mainly from convergent and retail service revenue growth.

• EBITDA/EBITDAAL increased by nearly 14% year-over-year to €252.9 million, with margin improving to 25.9% of revenues, supported by service revenue growth and VOO integration synergies.

• eCAPEX (excluding license fees) rose by 7.2% year-over-year to €180.1 million, reflecting ongoing investments in network upgrades and 5G deployment.

• Net financial debt reduced to €1,907 million from €2,115.5 million at end-2023, mainly due to reversal of Nethys put option and reduced third-party financing.

• Net loss for the period was €17.7 million, compared to a €15.4 million loss in H1 2023; adjusted operating cash flow increased to €72.8 million.

Outlook and guidance

• Updated 2024 EBITDA/EBITDAAL guidance to slightly exceed €535 million, up from the previous range of €515–535 million.

• eCAPEX guidance for 2024 remains at €365–385 million, focused on mobile and fixed network deployment.

• Full-year EBITDA/EBITDAAL growth expected to be just below 10%, with H2 performance anticipated to be lower than H1 due to seasonality and new market entrants.