Excluding drop in interconnection tariffs, telecom Orange sees highest growth in Romania sales since start of crisis

Telecom company Orange upped its revenues in Romania by 1.8 percent in 2013, to some EUR 934 million. The growth was mainly to the solid increase of the mobile internet segment. The French group reported 10.4 million customers in Romania end – 2013, having added 153,000 customers during the year. Excluding the impact of regulatory moves in Romania, meaning the drop in interconnection tariffs, the company's revenues were up 4.9 percent in 2013, which is the best performance for Orange Romania since 2010. Orange posted sales of EUR 244 million in the fourth quarter of 2013, up from EUR 223 million during the same period of 2012. Internet mobile traffic was up 47 percent in the last quarter of 2012, according to Orange Romania. Smartphone sales were double in 2013, compared to 2012 for Orange Romania, which did not mention the number of sold units for these devices. In December 2013, more than half of sold phones were smartphones, the company said in a statement. Looking back at 2013, Jean-François Fallacher, CEO Orange România, said it was the year with the highest investments since the beginning of the economic crisis. The company invested a third more in 2013 in Romania than in 2009. At a group level, Orange Group saw a drop of 4.5 percent in revenues in 2013, to EUR 40.9 billion. The group noted that “a 4.5 percent decline on a comparable basis of which more than 40 percent is attributable to the impact of regulatory measures. Excluding regulatory measures, revenues declined 2.6 percent.” Orange Group had a total of 236.3 million customers at 31 December 2013, a year-on-year increase of 2.4 percent, with 5.6 million net additions.More about the group's recent results, here. editor@romania-insider.com