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Broadband, wireless boost France Télécom's 2004 results
By James Niccolai

New customers signing up for broadband and wireless services helped France Télécom SA report an uptick in revenue for 2004, although net income at the French operator declined slightly from the year before.

Revenue for the year to Dec. 31 was €47.2 billion (US$64.4 billion on the last day of the period reported), up 4.1 percent from 2003 on a comparable basis, or 2.2 percent on an actual basis, France Télécom said Thursday. The comparable figures assume constant exchange rates and exclude the effects of acquisitions or disposal of operations.

Net income for 2004 came in at €2.78 billion, down from €3.21 billion in 2003, France Télécom said.

Growth was led by the French operator's wireless subsidiary, Orange SA, where 2004 revenue increased 10.4 percent on a comparable basis to €19.67 billion. Orange added 5.4 million customers in 2004 for a total of nearly 54 million by the end of the year.

France Télécom's other wireless businesses also did well. Revenue from its stake in Polish wireless operator PTK Centertel, for example, increased 25.2 percent on a comparable basis to €1.2 billion.

Wanadoo, the French operator's Internet services unit, reported revenue of €2.85 billion for the year, up 9.9 percent on a comparable basis from 2003. Almost half of France Télécom's Internet access customers in Europe were using broadband by the end of 2004, up from a quarter at the end of 2003, the company said.

Sales from France Télécom's fixed-line business continued to slow, dipping 0.3 percent from 2003 on a comparable basis, to €21.68 billion. That compared to a drop of 2.4 percent between 2002 and 2003.

While overall net income for the year declined, operating income increased 12.4 percent from 2003 on a comparable basis, to €10.8 billion, France Télécom said. Operating income provides a measure of profit from a company's ongoing operations, excluding adjustments for income taxes, interest payments and the like.

Thierry Breton, France Télécom's chairman and chief executive officer, called the results solid and said they will allow the company to continue investing in new technologies that merge voice and data services. The company's research and development budget increased 20 percent in 2004, it said.

France Télécom also said Thursday that it has agreed to buy the 45.8 percent of global network operator Equant NV that it did not already own. France Télécom will pay €578 million for the remaining assets and liabilities of the Amsterdam-based company. The deal is expected to close in May, the French operator said. It had announced last month that it planned to make an offer for the remainder of Equant.

Posted February 10, 2005 04:27 PM |