Oct 27, 2026 earnings call — EBITDAaL upgrade and SFR bid progress
Upgraded full-year EBITDAaL guidance to growth above 4.5%.
Revenue $12.2B (est $12.5B) · EPS $1.57
Key quotes
"Based on these solid results, we are upgrading our EBITDAaL full year guidance with a growth now expected above 4.5%."
"We plan signing of the transaction by the end of this year, 2026 and the closing by the end of 2027, we have 2 process in parallel, both were initiated when we signed the MoU."
"Revenues increased by more than 14% and was broadly distributed with 10 countries growing double digit."
Analyst Q&A 12
call connection check
Q (Akhil Dattani · JPMorgan): Can you hear me?
A: No management answered in this exchange. It was only the analyst checking his connection.
French deal timing and AI
Q (Joshua Mills · BNP Paribas): Asked for update on French consolidation timeline and on how Orange views agentic AI risk and price comparison apps.
A: They plan signing the transaction by the end of this year, 2026, and the closing by the end of 2027. They said they are actively working on agentic AI across customer experience, IT, cybersecurity and are not worried about a massive price downgrade; they will integrate their tools and apps into the new AI world.
"We plan signing of the transaction by the end of this year, 2026 and the closing by the end of 2027," — Christel Heydemann (CEO)
call connection check
Q (Akhil Dattani · JPMorgan): Can you hear me now?
A: No management answered in this exchange. The analyst simply repeated the connection check.
French competition and satellite spectrum
Q (Akhil Dattani · JPMorgan): Wanted detail on current French market dynamics and why retail ex PSTN trends lag; also asked how Orange sees MSS spectrum and satellite threat.
A: They said market competition is stable, with improvement on some B brands and record convergence net adds; gains are not only from SFR. On MSS spectrum, they signed a letter of intent with Dutch Telekom, Telefonica and Vodafone to potentially bid for part of the spectrum; they see satellite as a complement to terrestrial networks and stress the need to master handover and handsets; the bidding process is early and more detail will come later.
"I think you underline the strong commercial performance, which is reflected again this quarter with the record net adds on convergence since 2018, plus 57,000." — Jerome Henique
call connection check
Q (Ondrej Cabejšek · UBS): I hope you can hear me?
A: No management answered in this exchange. The analyst tested his audio before asking questions.
France outlook and Spain trends
Q (Ondrej Cabejšek · UBS): Can you confirm France can still see positive retail ex PSTN and EBITDAaL growth into 2027; and ask whether Spain service revenue should stabilize or stay negative.
A: They said the '26-'28 guidance is unchanged to the Capital Market Day. They reiterated H2 should be stable plus on France EBITDAaL and that Spain trends are improving with focus on churn reduction, convergent ARPU improvement and growth from SOHOs and B2B; Meinrad said service revenue moved from minus 1.9% in Q2 to minus 1.4% in Q3 and they are optimistic for Q4.
"our '26-'28 guidance is unchanged to the Capital Market Day." — Christel Heydemann (CEO)
ARPU and French taxes
Q (Nicholas Lyall · Berenberg): Asked how ARPU may develop given lower consumer confidence and how Orange approaches ARPU; also asked about any tax or government actions under discussion.
A: They said convergent ARPU is stable quarter-on-quarter but slightly down year-on-year due to mix of new customers; they focus on upsell, convergence and churn reduction while continuing to play on the low end. On taxes, they said the surtax existed and a slight reduction is being discussed but the budget is not approved and there is nothing specific targeting the telecom sector.
"On the French tax environment, so for what is being discussed at the French Parliament, there is nothing unknown and no surprise." — Christel Heydemann (CEO)
Spain revenue mix and politics
Q (Mathieu Robilliard · Barclays): What is driving Spain service revenue improvement and whether stabilizing service revenue will hurt margins; and any political impact on B2B or corporate customers in France.
A: They said in Spain they focus on value, not just gross adds, and the Orange group is the only operator growing convergent ARPU by using differentiated brands and avoiding aggressive price cuts. On politics, they said uncertainty is not good for planning and may slow some transformations, but critical services like cybersecurity and resilient connectivity are not compromised; small businesses may be more conservative.
"We are the only operator to grow the convergent ARPU, and this is a decision to really focus not just on commercial net adds, but more on also value." — Christel Heydemann (CEO)
2027 drivers, Sosh, cyber product
Q (Stéphane Beyazian · ODDO): Asked which 2026 factors will carry into 2027 and whether savings can be sustained; also asked if Sosh is growing and how many customers have taken the cybersecure product.
A: They said it is too early to give 2027 detail but they remain consistent with their Capital Market Day trajectory of an EBITDAaL CAGR of plus 3% and will continue efficiencies and AI transformation into 2027. Sosh is growing alongside the Orange brand and they reported more than 400,000 cybersecure customers while expanding the product range for B2C and B2B.
"We have more than 400,000 customers so far, and we are increasing our range of product, preparing additional services to enrich cybersecure proposition on both B2C and B2B Professional services." — Jerome Henique
Skylo adoption and Orange Money
Q (Roshan Ranjit · Deutsche Bank): Asked for adoption and feedback on Skylo after ~1 year and details on Orange Money growth and drivers.
A: They said Skylo was a test offer with limited device availability and adoption was as expected; it proved market appetite but was not intended for massive adoption yet. On Orange Money, they said revenue growth is driven by better customer experience on the digital platform, a strong push on merchant payments and microcredit, with merchant payments up more than 50% in the last 6 months.
"So if you can see on our merchant payments, we have more than 50% increase only in the last 6 months." — Yasser Shaker
deal price, politics, outage impact
Q (Russell Waller · New Street): Asked if higher rates or sector derating risk renegotiation of the SFR price, what political parties think about the deal, and whether the recent mobile outage affects Q4 numbers.
A: They said they have mechanisms to adjust price depending on SFR performance but will not disclose details; for now trends are as foreseen and any renegotiation would affect the antitrust calendar. They noted no negative comments from political parties, and the mobile outage was caused by one core equipment failure, affected millions for a few hours, customers were compensated and they do not expect financial impact in October; they also highlighted a 92% fixed-rate debt position and strong liquidity.
"we have some mechanism to adjust the price depending on the performance of SFR over time in the transaction." — Christel Heydemann (CEO)
Africa mobile and device sales
Q (Fernando Cordero · Santander): Asked whether Q3 slowdown in Africa mobile volumes was structural or regulatory and whether device sales penetration can keep growing and affect churn.
A: They said the flat mobile customer base in Q3 was mostly technical, reflecting KYC regulation implementation in several countries and did not affect revenue growth. On devices they said device sales are strong, driven by high-end devices and marketplace activity, device financing is used as a churn-reduction tool and device penetration is low across the full customer base; when a device is attached to a mobile package churn is about 4 points lower in European countries.
"On devices and equipment performance, we have a very solid environment." — Christel Heydemann (CEO)