(MENAFN- AFP)French telecoms group Orange said Wednesday it booked "solid" results on the back of an "excellent operational performance" in 2017, driven by its high-speed broadband business, even if its bottom-line was hit by an accounting effect.
"2017 was a remarkable year for Orange in more ways than one. The group delivered an excellent commercial performance, driven by very high-speed broadband," chief executive Stephane Richard said in a statement.
"This performance has translated into solid financial results."
Bottom-line net profit actually fell by 35 percent to 1.906 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in 2017.
But this was mainly because the year-earlier figure had been boosted by windfall gains from the sale of its stake in British operation EE, the group explained.
Excluding that effect, net profit from continuing operations doubled, Orange said.
Orange said that revenues edged up 0.4 percent to 41.096 billion euros.
Underlying profit, as measured by earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 1.1 percent to 12.82 billion euros.
Group-wide, the number of mobile customers rose by 5.0 percent to 211.4 million, Orange said.
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