sustained commercial activity and controlled expenditure enabled the Group to compensate for the unfavourable impact of economic conditions and the increased impact of regulatory measures

continued growth of the customer base, up 6.6% year on year to 189.1 million customers at 30 September 2009, with an increase of 9.5% in the number of mobile customers to 128.8 million at 30 September 2009

revenues of 38.1 billion euros for the first nine months of 2009, an increase of 0.4% excluding the impact of regulatory measures (down 1.6% on a comparable basis)
- growth of 1.9% in France, excluding regulatory measures, including a 5.8% increase in mobile services
- Africa and the Middle East rose 5.2% on a comparable basis
- other operations continue to be affected by the deterioration in the economic environment, particularly Romania, where revenues declined 18.1%, and the Enterprise segment, down 2.8% on a comparable basis
-  in the third quarter of 2009, revenues decreased 0.9%, excluding regulatory measures (down 3.7% on a comparable basis), which was still 1.5 points better than the average GDP growth across the Group’s footprint, estimated at -2.4% in the third quarter

 

EBITDA margin was 35.1%, down 0.7 points compared with the first nine months of 2008
- actions undertaken at the beginning of the year limited the impact of regulatory measures on the operating margin
- EBITDA margin of 35.9% in the third quarter: the decline compared with the previous year was limited to -0.7 points (the same as in the first half), despite the greater impact of regulatory measures in the third quarter

 

the ratio of CAPEX to revenues was 9.8%, down 1.8 points compared with the first nine months of 2008 (11.6%)  
- CAPEX optimization and adaptation plans are generating the expected savings, particularly in 2G networks, IT and fixed-line legacy services
- CAPEX to prepare for the future and targeted at innovation and services were maintained

 

confirmation of the objective of stable organic cash flow at the 2008 level of 8.0 billion euros
- continuation of cost savings programmes and implementation of the Orange 2012 transformation plan should limit the decline in EBITDA margin compared with 2008
- the CAPEX rate should be less than 12% for the year as a whole

 

The Board of Directors of France Telecom SA met on 28 October 2009 and examined the Group's financial statements to 30 September 2009.

Commenting on the results for the first nine months of 2009, France Telecom Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Didier Lombard stated: “Against a backdrop of difficult economic, social and regulatory conditions, the Group is proving its ability to maintain its performance. This is to the credit of all of our employees who work every day towards the Group’s success, and who I personally want to thank.
Today, the France Telecom group has almost 190 million customers around the world, and the number of people who use our mobile services is up by nearly 10% in one year. Despite mixed conditions across our footprint, our performance in France was notable. Revenues from France were up 0.6% and the take-up of new services continues to spread, particularly those related to 3G and our digital TV offers.
Our ability to weather current conditions rests on the Group's financial strength, on our ability to innovate and on the commitment of our teams around the world. In France, we are currently in negotiations with trade unions on a new social contract that will be proposed to employees and will form an integral part of the Group’s development in this country. All of these factors should enable us to rapidly take advantage of any improvement in the economic environment.”