With a three-day beard and a casual look, Iliad (Free) CEO Thomas Reino approaches the start of the school year with a smile. However, this should not be easy in the telecommunications industry.
Of course, the group finished the second quarter well, as evidenced by the results published on Tuesday. In France, Free has even more subscribers, 13.8 million to its mobile offering. In fixed telephony, it crossed the 7 million mark, consolidating its second position after Orange and ahead of SFR. Its quarterly turnover increased by 7.1%, reaching 1.3 billion euros. The group now has more than 9 million subscribers in Italy and 879,000 in Poland. In general, Iliad’s annual turnover should cross the 8 billion euro mark for the first time.
To support its growth, Iliad is recruiting. ” 550 positions are open. We are the second largest employer in the sector,with more than 16,000 employees, including 9,800 in France ”, says Céline Polo, Group HRD. Words that sound like revenge against a distant era when Free’s rivals accused him of destroying jobs in the industry.
5 billion euro loan
With the determination to dig the social groove, the operator also claims the price stability of its subscriptions. “We preserve the purchasing power of the French. Javier Neal signed up earlier in the year. The price of mobile plans €2 and €19.99, unchanged for ten years, will remain unchanged for the next five years. Thomas Reynaud recalled. And this despite inflationary pressures on operating costs, which have risen 16% year-to-date. The group may have taken its own precautions, but it is not spared from the price increases of energy carriers.
Like its competitors, Free has worked to reduce its energy footprint and therefore its electricity bill. Several levers are being activated, including turning off some frequencies at night or upgrading network equipment to favor more energy-efficient equipment.
Cautiously, Iliad completed a €5bn bank round of financing at the end of July. The operation aims to cover its costs, in particular the payment of 5G frequencies in Italy at the end of September and the repayment of bond maturities. It is also “take advantage of the window of opportunity in a highly volatile debt market “. Iliad’s net debt now stands at 15 billion euros, including 5 billion in bank loans that have not yet been drawn down.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.