Orange SA’s Chief Executive Officer Christel Heydemann announced a new strategic plan to 2030 that will refocus on its core telecom business, boost growth in Africa and restructure its ailing enterprise business with a focus on cybersecurity.
(Bloomberg) — Orange SA’s Chief Executive Officer Christel Heydemann announced a new strategic plan to 2030 that will refocus on its core telecom business, boost growth in Africa and restructure its ailing enterprise business with a focus on cybersecurity.
The plan will bring low single digit growth annually in its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, which takes into account its leases, France’s largest mobile operator said in a statement Thursday. Its 2025 objectives include an increased discipline in investments and growth in organic cash flow from its telecom businesses to reach €4 billion ($4.3 billion), Orange said.
“Our aim is to achieve sustainable growth, particularly in cybersecurity, in Africa and in the Middle East,” Heydemann said in the statement. Orange had already started a refocus on its core business after she took over last year. The group started to look for new partners for its digital bank Orange Bank, and signed a deal this year to sell its stake in content unit OCS to Canal+.
The ailing B2B unit Orange Business will undergo a “far-reaching program of cost optimization,” with a goal to return to growth in profitability by no later than 2025. Orange plans targeted acquisitions in the cybersecurity sector in order to reach revenue of €1.3 billion by 2025 in that market.
Orange tower company Totem will be a key player of mobile towers consolidation in Europe, the carrier said, without other mentions of new M&A ambitions.
In Africa and the Middle East, where Orange is present in 18 countries, the carrier eyes an average annual revenue growth of 7% between 2022 and 2025 and a “significant increase in profitability” over the period.
Orange plans to raise its dividend floor to 72 cents for the 2023 financial year, and 75 cents for 2024, pending the approval of shareholders.
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