Sustained commercial performance and solid EBITDAaL growth in 2022

Press release
Embargo until 10 February 2023 at 7:00 am
 Regulated information – Inside information

Financial information for the second semester and full year 2022

Mobile postpaid customer base +2.5% yoy / Cable customer base +12.4% yoy H2 Revenues +0.9% / FY 2022 Revenues +2.0% yoy H2 EBITDAaL +7.8% / FY 2022 EBITDAaL +5.9% yoy

H2 Operational Highlights

A solid commercial performance despite competitive environment and a limited growth of the market. Mobile postpaid increased by 36k net adds, supported by our convergent strategy, the success of the “Special Edition” promotion and device deals, reaching 2.8m subscribers (+2.5% yoy). Cable has increased by 12.4%, with 26k net adds reaching 443k customers, confirming the well positioned products. Our mobile and convergent ARPO’s increased yoy supported by our segmented and value marketing policy in B2C and B2B.

Orange Belgium: key operating figures
	H2 2021	H2 2022	change
Mobile postpaid customer base (in ‘000)	2 743	2 811	2.5%
Net adds (in ‘000)	61	36	-41.1%
Mobile only postpaid ARPO (€ per month)	20.2	21.1	4.4%
Cable customer base (in ‘000)	394	443	12.4%
Net adds (in ‘000)	29	26	-7.9%
B2C convergent ARPO (€ per month)	72.9	74.4	2.2%

H2 Financial Highlights

Revenues reached €713.9m, up 0.9% yoy. Retail service revenues posted strong growth, up 7.2%. Wholesales revenues decreased by -19.7% due to loss of the mobile virtual network operator ‘Mobile Vikings’ and lower incoming traffic. EBITDAaL grew by 7.8% yoy to €206.9m, driven by higher retail service revenues and supported by tough cost control. eCapex increased by 7.8%, driven by the RAN sharing implementation. Debt closed at €190.7m at year end, the increase is mainly due to payment of the spectrum fee.

Orange Belgium Group: key financial figures
in €m	H2 2021	H2 2022	change	FY 2021	FY 2022	change
Revenues	707.6	713.9	0.9%	1 363.5	1 391.2	2.0%
Retail service revenues	484.3	519.0	7.2%	945.1	1 009.5	6.8%
EBITDAaL	191.8	206.9	7.8%	353.0	373.7	5.9%
margin as % of revenues	27.1%	29.0%	187 bp	25.9%	26.9%	97 bp
eCapex1	-122.8	-134.0	9.1%	-204.1	-220.0	7.8%
Operating cash flow2	69.0	72.9	5.6%	148.9	153.7	3.2%
Net financial debt	69.5	190.7		69.5	190.7

1. eCapex excluding licence fees. In 2022 Orange Belgium capitalized €253.6 million
2. Operating cash flow defined as EBITDAaL – eCapex excluding licence fees.  

Xavier Pichon, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

We can be satisfied with our performance, both commercially and financially. Despite the slowdown of the market, our customer base continues to grow, especially when it comes to convergence. Consequently, both our revenues and margins have increased. We also launched new innovative products, which have enabled us to strengthen our new market positioning.

From a societal perspective, the Orange Digital Center and the Orange Belgium Fund have already enabled us to provide real assistance to partners active in digital inclusion.

2022 has also been a pivotal year with some strategic steps that have been passed. The recent agreements we have signed with Telenet and the upcoming closing of the VOO transaction, in combination with the investments we are making in state-of-the-art technology on our mobile network, are the key enablers to execute our Orange Ahead convergent nationwide multigigabit strategy.

Antoine Chouc, Chief Financial Officer, stated:

In 2022 we achieved 2% growth in our total revenues, in line with our guidance. This was mainly driven by our retail service revenues which increased by 6.8% over the year thanks to solid commercial performance and our segmented and value marketing approach.

Our EBITDAaL increased by 5.9% over the year. In addition to our service revenues growth, this was made possible by effective cost management, despite the energy crisis and high inflation. We therefore slightly exceeded our guidance.

Our eCapex has reached total amount of €220m, in line with our guidance.

2023 will be a challenging year, given some headwinds mainly in a difficult macro-economic context. The inflation seen in 2022 has led to an important indexation on labour costs and energy prices will reach an all-time high. Thus for our guidance we foresee single digit revenue growth, EBITDAaL between €360m and €375m, while eCapex will be within the range of €210m and €230m.

Attachment

• OBEL H2 2022 EN