Orange Belgium : Financial information for the fourth quarter and full year 2017
07 Februar 2018 - 7:00AM
Financial
information for the fourth quarter and full year 2017
Strong commercial
end of year performance demonstrates the relevance of Orange
Belgium's convergent and mobile data strategy
Orange Belgium
Group delivered on all its 2017 targets. Dividend proposal of 0.50
euro.
FY 2017:
Total service revenues + 1.5 % yoy with an
adjusted EBITDA slightly up 0.7 % yoy on a like-for-like basis at
group level,
Q4 2017: + 28k postpaid net adds, +3.2 % yoy
postpaid ARPU growth, +21k convergent Orange LOVE net adds in
Belgium
Brussels, 7 February 2018 - Today,
the Orange Belgium Group (Euronext Brussels: OBEL) publishes its
results for the fourth quarter and full year 2017. The Orange
Belgium Group ended the year 2017 with strong commercial results,
demonstrating the success of the company's commercial strategy and
execution. The company delivered on all its financial and
commercial targets for 2017, while directing resources towards the
company's future growth by investing in its convergent
positioning.
-
With the support of the launch
of the LOVE-concept early 2017, the convergent customer base
increased to 103 thousand customers at the end of 2017,
surpassing the milestone of 100 thousand LOVE customers, adding 21
and 69 thousand LOVE customers, in the fourth quarter and full year
2017 respectively. The associated mobile customer base opting for a
LOVE bundle has increased to 163 thousand active mobile customers,
an increase of 34 and 106 thousand, in the fourth quarter and full
year 2017 respectively. In 2017, close to 50 % of all Orange LOVE
customers were new customers for Orange Belgium.
-
Orange Belgium's postpaid net
additions reached 28 thousand in the fourth quarter of 2017, the
highest result since 2011. Additionally, the fourth quarter
postpaid ARPU growth accelerated thanks to the growing 4G data
usage. Orange Belgium ended the year 2017 with 2.32 million
postpaid customers, adding 67.6 thousand customers over the year,
underlining the growing nature of its core mobile business. This
was achieved thanks to Orange Belgium's customer oriented 4G
product portfolio and an active commercial fourth quarter, animated
by a successful end-of-year campaign, the continued success of the
'Orange Thank You' loyalty program and the launch of Double Data
for convergent customers. In December 2017, total traffic increased
by 43 % year-on-year and 4G traffic represented 88 % of this
total, compared to 80 % a year ago. The average mobile data usage
of the smartphone user base amounted to 1.8 GB in December 2017
from 1.3 GB a year ago. This triggered a progressive shift towards
offers with a higher data allowance, leading to a 3.2 %
year-on-year increase of Orange Belgium's postpaid ARPU to 30
euros.
-
Orange Belgium Group realized a
total turnover of 317.5 and 1,251.2 million euros in the fourth
quarter and full year 2017, respectively -1.3% and +0.8 %
year-on-year. The full year 2017 performance was the result of 1/ a
0.1 % increase in mobile service revenues despite a 9.1 million
euro decrease in MVNO revenues and a 36.4 million euro gross
adverse impact from EU roaming regulation; 2/ a 21.8 % increase in
fixed service revenues driven by the increase of Internet + TV LOVE
customers and 3/ a 4.9 % decrease in mobile equipment sales and
other revenues. The fourth quarter of 2017, in particular, was
impacted by a 15.3 million euro year-on-year decrease in MVNO
revenues following the strong decline in MVNO customers hosted on
the Orange Belgium network.
-
The adjusted EBITDA of the
Orange Belgium Group amounted to 61.9 and 302.2 million euros
in the fourth quarter and full year 2017. The adjusted EBITDA in
the fourth quarter and full year 2016 benefited from a 15.5 million
euro one-off related to the December 2016 Walloon pylon tax
agreement. Excluding this effect the adjusted EBITDA year-on-year
evolution was -1.8 % in the fourth quarter of 2017 and +0.7 %
in full year 2017. This result was achieved thanks to a sound value
management (higher postpaid customer base and ARPU) combined with
rigorous cost control, mitigating the decrease in high-margin MVNO
and EU roaming revenues. Moreover the full year 2017 EBITDA
contribution of the standalone cable business of -18.5 million
euros continued to weigh down on the overall performance of the
Orange Belgium Group.
-
Orange Belgium Group invested 73.8 and 188.4 million euros in the
fourth quarter and full year 2017 (+3.5 % and +12.4 %
year-on-year), of which 11.3 and 46.8 million euros were
related to the cable activities. As a result, the core capex
amounted to 141.6 million euros in full year 2017, a decrease of
4.8 % year-on-year, still implying a 13.9 % core capex/mobile
service revenues ratio, underlining the continued investments in
the network. The organic cash flow amounted to 65.9 million euros
in full year 2017. The net financial debt at the
end of 2017 stood at 312.8 million euros, implying a net
financial debt/reported EBITDA ratio of 1.0x, illustrating the
sound balance sheet position of the Orange Belgium Group.
-
The Orange Belgium Group expects its total
service revenues to grow in 2018 for the third year in a row and
aims at an adjusted EBITDA between 280 and 300
million euros in 2018. This takes into account that the 2018
financial performance will be strongly affected by the loss of
close to 30 million euros of MVNO revenues and the final adverse
gross revenue and EBITDA impact of EU roaming regulation of 26 and
17 million euro respectively. This adjusted EBITDA
target highlights that the Orange Belgium Group's retail business
is expected to grow substantially thanks to the ongoing
monetization of its mobile network and the sustained focus on
operational efficiency. In addition, Orange Belgium Group
expects its 2018 core investment (i.e. total investments excluding
all cable related investments) to remain fairly stable compared to
2017.
-
In line with the communication of last year, the
Orange Belgium Group aims to balance the appropriate cash returns
to equity holders with the requirement of maintaining a balanced
and sound financial position, while leaving sufficient leeway to
continue to invest in its convergent strategy and to build out its
network. Considering the performance of 2017 and the mid-term
outlook, the Board of Directors of the Orange
Belgium Group has decided to propose to the Annual General
Meeting of Shareholder of May 2, 2018 to pay an
ordinary gross dividend for the financial year 2017 of 0.50 euro
per share.
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Financial information for the
fourth quarter and full year 2017
Résultats financiers du quatrième trimestre et de l’exercice
2017
Financiële informatie voor het vierde kwartaal en volledige jaar
2017
This
announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf
of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: Orange Belgium via Globenewswire
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