Iliad meets goal to become Europe's 5th largest telecoms operator
Adds context and comments on market consolidation in paragraphs 4-6, H1 revenue in paragraph 8
By Gianluca Lo Nostro and Stephanie Hamel
Aug 29 (Reuters) -France's Iliad said on Thursday it had reached its goal to become Europe's fifth largest telecoms operator by the number of customers, after it recorded 50 million total subscribers in the first half of 2024.
The group, which already was the fifth biggest fixed broadband operator in Europe, has been aiming to bring in more retail mobile subscribers.
"We now count 50 million subscribers in France, Poland and Italy, and as many as 61 million with our investment in Swedish operator Tele2," CEO Thomas Reynaud said in a statement.
Iliad in February bought a nearly 20% stake in Tele2 TEL2b.ST from investment firm Kinnevik KINVb.ST for around $1.3 billion, becoming its largest shareholder.
The unlisted group, founded and majority owned by French billionaire Xavier Niel, has been pushing for consolidation in the European telecommunications space, including a failed bid to merge its Italian operations with those of Vodafone VOD.L in January. Vodafone later sold its Italian business to Swisscom SCMN.S.
Reynaud said during a press call that consolidation in Italy was not something Iliad was actively pursuing anymore, and its focus was now on expanding its share in the country's fixed-line market.
Iliad's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after leases (EBITDAaL) - a core operating earnings measure used by many European telecom companies - grew 13.2% to 1.86 billion euros ($2.07 billion) in the first six months of 2024.
The operator also stood by its annual revenue target of 10 billion euros, after reporting 10.3% growth to 4.9 billion euros in the first half.
In France, where it operates under the Free brand, Iliad now has 22.8 million subscribers, while its second biggest market Poland recorded 15.3 million subscribers through mobile provider Play and cable operator UPC. In Italy, the total number of subscribers was 11.5 million at the end of June.
($1 = 0.9003 euros)
Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Stéphanie Hamel in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi
Aloqador aktivlar
Eng oxirgi yangiliklar
Javobgarlikdan voz kechish: XM Group korxonalari har biri faqat ijro xizmatlarini koʻrsatadi va onlayn savdo platformamizdan foydalanish huquqini beradi, bu odamga veb-saytda yoki veb-sayt orqali mavjud boʻlgan kontentni koʻrish va/yoki undan foydalanishga ruxsat beradi hamda uni oʻzgartirishga moʻljallanmagan va uni oʻzgartirmaydi yoki kengaytirmaydi. Bunday kirish va foydalanish huquqi doimo quyidagilarga boʻysunadi: (i) Shartlar va qoidalar; (ii) Risklar haqida ogohlantirish; va (iii) Javobgarlikni toʻliq rad etish. Shuning uchun bunday kontent umumiy maʼlumot sifatida taqdim etiladi. Xususan, shuni esda tutingki, bizning onlayn savdo platformamiz mazmuni moliyaviy bozorlarda biror bitimni amalga oshirishga oid maslahat yoki taklif emas. Har qanday moliyaviy bozorda savdo qilish sizning kapitalingiz uchun jiddiy risk darajasini oʻz ichiga oladi.
Onlayn savdo platformamizda chop etilgan barcha materiallar faqat taʼlim/axborot maqsadlari uchun moʻljallangan va unda moliyaviy, investitsiya soligʻi yoki savdo maslahatlari va tavsiyalar; yoki bizning savdo narxlarimizning qaydlari; yoki har qanday moliyaviy vositalar bilan bitim tuzish maslahati yoki taklifi; yoki sizga kerak boʻlmagan moliyaviy reklama aksiyalari hisoblanmaydi
Har qanday uchinchi tomon kontenti, shuningdek XM tomonidan tayyorlangan kontent, masalan: fikrlar, yangiliklar, tadqiqotlar, tahlillar, narxlar va boshqa maʼlumotlar yoki bu veb-saytda joylashgan uchinchi tomon saytlariga havolalar umumiy bozor sharhi sifatida "boricha" taqdim etiladi va investitsiya maslahatini tashkil etmaydi. Har qanday kontent investitsiya tadqiqoti sifatida talqin qilinsa, siz bunday kontentni investitsiya tadqiqotlarining mustaqilligini ragʻbatlantirish uchun moʻljallangan qonun talablariga muvofiq moʻljallanmagan va tayyorlanmaganligini eʼtiborga olishingiz va qabul qilishingiz kerak, shuning uchun unga tegishli qonunlar va qoidalarga muvofiq marketing kommunikatsiyasi sifatida qaraladi. Mustaqil boʻlmagan investitsiya tadqiqoti va yuqoridagi maʼlumotlarga oid risk haqida ogohlantirishimizni oʻqib chiqqaningizga va tushunganingizga ishonch hosil qiling, unga bu yerdan kirish mumkin.
