France Telecom posts 5.1% fall in H1’09 EBITDA

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: France Telecom, the French mobile operator, has reported a 5.1% drop in its H1’09 EBITDA to EUR8.8 billion (USD12.4 billion). The operator further posted a fall in sales and net income to to EUR25.5 billion and EUR2.6 billion. respectively. The operator said that the global economic recession made the subscribers to cut back on their spending. CFO Gervais Pellissier stated that revenue in the second half of the year may fall further, but that the group is ‘resisting well against a backdrop of a declining world economy and a hardening regulatory environment’.
FT aims at cost cutting by EUR1.5 billion a year by 2011 end. The operator ended June with a mobile subscriber base of 125.5 million, up 9.7%.