France's Iliad posts Q1 core profit rise, confirms targets

By Augustin Turpin

(Reuters) -Iliad reported a 12.2% rise in core profit on Thursday as it expands into the data centre business from three European locations.

The unlisted company, which operates in France, Italy and Poland, reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation after leases (EBITDAaL) of 878 million euros ($947.27 million) for the three months to end-March.

"This rise was mainly led by France, which recorded a 15% increase in EBITDAaL, followed by Italy," Iliad said in a statement.

Growth of 10% marked its strongest quarterly revenue rise in France in nearly 10 years, it said.

Free, Iliad's brand in France, racked up 212,000 net new mobile subscribers, while in Italy, the group gained 276,000 net new subscribers via its Iliad Italia brand.

Revenues for Poland grew 13.8%, with higher like-for-like growth and helped by the strength of the zloty.

"We're at 9.1% (like-for-like group revenue growth), and if we take into account the appreciation of the zloty, we're at 11%", Free CEO Nicolas Thomas said in a call with journalists. Group CEO Thomas Reynaud said that difference was worth approximately 30-40 million euros.

Reynaud also said in a statement that Iliad is "radically changing scale" with investments in new technologies including AI, cloud and new data centres.

"We have a platform of 15 data centres, divided between three strategic locations: Paris, which is in the process of becoming the European capital of AI...Marseille (which) has become the digital capital of the Mediterranean and Poland...one of Europe's fastest-growing economies", Reynaud told a press conference.

Iliad also confirmed its target of achieving 10 billion euros in revenue and to become Europe's fifth-largest mobile operator in 2024.

(Reporting by Augustin Turpin and Anna Peverieri; editing by Jason Neely)