French mobile phone operator Orange said today it expected to beat market forecasts for key parts of its 2001 results, sending its shares higher ahead of quarterly sales figures due on Thursday.
"We think we will be above the analysts' consensus, which right now is 14.9 billion euros for turnover and 2.9 billion euros for EBITDA," chief executive of Orange France Mr Didier Quillot said.
Shares in Orange, which had already risen around 1.2 per cent in line with a stronger Paris market, rose after the remarks to reach euro 9.38, up 4.2 per cent.
Mr Quillot said Orange predicted EBITDA - the widely watched earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation - of about euro 3 billion for 2001.
He expected mobile phone penetration in France to reach 62 to 63 per cent by the end of 2001, although this was well below the 78 per cent seen in Britain or 80 per cent in Italy. Scandinavian markets show even higher reliance on mobile phones.
At the end of September, 57.6 per cent of French people used a mobile.
Mr Quillot said he expected full-year turnover in France to come in at roughly double the euro 2.94 billion seen in the first half. Orange has a 48 per cent market share in France.