France Telecom revenues increased 8.4% in 2002 to EUR 46.6 billion. The company cited strong revenue growth from its international operations (up 24.9%) and its Wanadoo Internet and broadband operations (up 30.4%), but declines from its fixed-line, voice and data services. Some highlights:
- Wanadoo's active customer base reached 8.5 million at December 31, 2002, compared with 6 million a year earlier.
- Wanadoo tripled the number of broadband customers in Europe in one year, exceeding 1 million customers in France. In Q4, Wanadoo added 300,000 ADSL customers in France.
- For France Telecom as a whole, the number of consumer subscriptions for ADSL in France (including Wanadoo ADSL subscriptions) more than tripled to reach 1.359 million at December 31, 2002, up from 408,000 a year earlier. This growth rate accelerated sharply during Q4, when 521,000 new subscriptions were sold.
- Revenues from online services and Internet access were down 2.2% due to the ongoing decline of Minitel
- France Telecom's share of the fixed-line telephony market in France stabilized at 80.9% for local calls and 64.3% for long distance (at the beginning of the year there was an automatic transfer to competitors of local traffic from customers who opted for carrier preselection)
- Equant revenues contributed to France Telecom stood at EUR 2.8 billion at 31-December-2002, a decline of 5.5% compared to the previous year.
For 2003, France Telecom expects broadband will prove to be its source of growth, offsetting the measured decline in revenues from fixed-line telephony in France. A previously announced financial restructuring is underway.
http://www.francetelecom.com
