by Pauline Foret and Mara Vilcu
(Reuters) – French telecoms group Iliad reported a 10.3 percent rise in revenue on Thursday, indicating that it has entered the top five European telecoms operators.
Iliad recorded consolidated revenue of 4.90 billion euros, compared to 4.44 billion euros a year ago.
In the second quarter, the current operating profit (EBITDAaL) of Xavier Niel’s group stood at 1.86 billion euros, compared to 1.64 billion euros over the same period the previous year, an increase of 13.2%.
In the second quarter, Iliad saw its total number of subscribers increase in France to 22.88 million, in Poland to 15.4 million and in Italy to 11.57 million.
The company also reaffirmed its ambition to reach a turnover of 10 billion euros in 2024.
“The Iliad Group is reaching a historic milestone by entering the top 5 European operators. We now have 50 million subscribers in France, Poland and Italy and even 61 million with our investment in the Swedish operator Tele2,” said Thomas Reynaud, CEO of the group, in a press release.
NO CONSOLIDATION IN ITALY
The company announced in February that it was acquiring a 19.8% stake in Swedish telecoms operator Tele2 for 1.16 billion euros, seeking to consolidate its positions in the European telecoms sector.
Earlier this year, Iliad had also tried to expand its presence in Italian telecoms by proposing to Vodafone to merge their operations in the country. This offer was rejected after two consecutive proposals from the French telecoms giant.
In a conference with journalists, Thomas Reynaud, the group’s CEO, indicated that this strategy was no longer on the agenda. “We have been open to the possibility of a consolidation of the Italian market. Today, there is no subject of this type,” he declared, adding that the group was now concentrating on operations.
According to analysts at Morgan Stanley, Italy is the country with the greatest potential for market consolidation, with Swisscom’s acquisition of Vodafone Italia being the latest example.
(Written by Pauline Foret and Mara Vîlcu, with Gianluca Lo Nostro and Stéphanie Hamel, edited by Augustin Turpin)
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