Summary
- Orange reported first-half revenue of €20.9 billion, up 3.5%; excluding non-recurring French wholesale items, growth would have been about 3.0%.
- EBITDAaL reached €6.1 billion, up 5.0%, or about 3.7% without those first-quarter items.
- Africa and the Middle East led with revenue growth of 13.9% and EBITDAaL growth of 16.1%; Orange Business revenue fell 3.1% and EBITDAaL 6.4%.
- Organic cash flow rose €497 million to €2.2 billion, prompting Orange to raise full-year guidance to EBITDAaL growth above 4% and organic cash flow around €4.3 billion.
- Net financial debt reached €35.7 billion after the MasOrange acquisition; reported net income of €3.6 billion includes a €2.4 billion gain from obtaining control.
Orange’s first half has two bridges. The first runs from reported growth to underlying operations. The second runs from the old group perimeter to one that includes MasOrange as a fully consolidated business—but only from June.
Ignoring either bridge makes the record half look simpler than it is.
Revenue rose 3.5% to €20.9 billion and EBITDAaL 5.0% to €6.1 billion. Orange itself provides the underlying comparison: remove non-recurring French wholesale items, including fibre co-financing received in the first quarter, and the growth rates become about 3.0% and 3.7%.
Those adjusted rates still describe expansion. They also show that roughly one quarter of the reported EBITDAaL growth rate is not the recurring run-rate Orange asks investors to carry forward.
Africa and the Middle East provide the operating engine
The regional distribution is more important than the group average. Africa and the Middle East produced 13.9% revenue growth and 16.1% EBITDAaL growth. Orange said the region added ten million mobile-data customers and increased investment to support demand.
France grew revenue 1.2% and EBITDAaL 2.4%. Europe 6—Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Romania and Moldova—grew revenue 4.1% and EBITDAaL 6.1%.
Orange Business remains the counterweight. Its revenue fell 3.1% and EBITDAaL 6.4%. The decline improved from the previous semester’s 7.2% EBITDAaL fall, but “improving trend” is not the same as returning to growth.
The mix means Orange’s group result cannot be read as a common pricing or demand cycle across its footprint. Fast mobile-data adoption in Africa and the Middle East, steadier consumer connectivity in Europe and pressure in enterprise services are three different businesses inside one average.
Cash conversion supports the guidance change
Organic cash flow reached €2.2 billion, €497 million higher. This is a stronger confirmation than adjusted profit alone because it connects operating performance to cash after the company’s defined investment framework.
Orange raised its full-year targets from the evidence of the half. It now expects EBITDAaL growth above 4% and organic cash flow around €4.3 billion. Those remain forecasts. The first half does not automatically double into the full year, particularly when the perimeter and one-off effects differ by period.
eCAPEX was €3.2 billion, or 15.2% of revenue. It rose 2.7% because investment increased in Africa and the Middle East; excluding that region, eCAPEX fell 2.4%. Growth therefore requires more capital in the same geography that is lifting earnings.
The useful follow-up is whether regional EBITDAaL continues to grow faster than the investment needed to sustain coverage and capacity.
MasOrange changes debt, income and comparability
Orange completed its acquisition of the remaining 50% of MasOrange on 8 June. The Spanish operator was accounted for using the equity method for the first five months and consolidated from June.
That creates a partial-period perimeter. Spain contributed reported June growth, but the first-half group total is not six months of fully consolidated MasOrange. Later comparisons will contain more of the business.
Net financial debt rose by €13.2 billion to €35.7 billion, primarily because of the acquisition. Net debt to EBITDAaL reached 2.4 times, while Orange maintains a medium-term objective of returning to around two times.
Reported net income rose to €3.6 billion, but the number includes a €2.4 billion gain from obtaining exclusive control of MasOrange. It also compares with a 2025 period burdened by a €1.3 billion employment-related provision. Adjusted net income of €1.35 billion, up 11.8%, is a more useful earnings bridge, though it too is a company-defined measure.
Record is a description, not a single causal claim
Orange can reasonably call the reported first-half growth record. Readers still need to know which growth can recur.
The durable case is strongest where three signals align: double-digit regional expansion, EBITDAaL growing faster than revenue, and organic cash flow rising. The weaker areas are also visible: enterprise contraction, capital demand in the fastest-growing region and leverage following consolidation.
The next half should be judged with consistent perimeters. Reported group growth, underlying growth, MasOrange’s full contribution and debt reduction need separate lines. If Orange keeps them separate, the raised guidance can be tested as an operating claim rather than accepted as a headline.
