Iliad: Profit up 5.4% in the first quarter, driven by sales in France and Italy


by Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS (Reuters) – Iliad on Friday reported first-quarter gross profit up 5.4% year on year, driven by higher revenues in France and Italy.

The telecoms operator saw its EBITDAaL, one of the sector’s main profitability indicators, rise to 714 million euros over the period, Free’s parent company said in a press release, while the figure for ‘first-quarter business rose 4.8% to 1.9 billion euros.

Iliad, which its founder Xavier Niel delisted last year as part of a 3.1 billion euro takeover, reaffirmed its growth target in the three countries where the group is present.

These countries also include Poland, where the company recently acquired the Polish cable operator UPC from the American Liberty Global.

“Our first priority is organic development,” said chief executive Thomas Reynaud, adding that the group was open to acquisitions, particularly in Italy, where its offer of 11.25 billion euros to buy the activities of Vodafone was rejected by the UK operator.

“If ever there were to be some form of consolidation (in Italy) and if a player wanted to sell its Italian asset, we would have to look at it,” Thomas Reynaud said during an earnings conference call.

Iliad is also looking to strike a deal with rival Wind Tre in Italy to share the costs of rolling out their mobile network.

Thomas Reynaud said in March that Iliad was close to a deal with Wind Tre, owned by conglomerate Hutchinson. Talks are still ongoing and a transaction has not yet been finalized, an Iliad spokesperson said.

(Report by Mathieu Rosemain, written by Alexander Smith; French version Elena Vardon, edited by Kate Entringer)



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