Orange Telecom Egypt said in its unaudited financial results that its losses during the first half (H1) of this year fell by 77% to a net loss of EGP 253m, compared to EGP 1.1bn in the corresponding period last year.
The company said in a disclosure to the Egyptian Exchange on Wednesday that its consolidated revenues during the first six months of the year amounted to EGP 6.6bn, compared to EGP 6.1bn in the comparative period—an increase of 7.9%.
The company justified the continuation of its losses by increasing inflation rates at a high rate, which led to an increase in operating costs, such as increased fuel and electricity prices.
During the year, the government raised fuel prices at different rates, pushing inflation higher.
The company said the high costs of the company also contributed to losses as the core components of the network are imported from abroad, and the company still bears the high costs of borrowing.
During the past year, the company’s losses fell by 35.5% to about EGP 1.6bn, compared with about EGP 2.6bn a year ago.
Orange stated that one of the reasons for the company’s loss was “an increase in loans, plus an increase in interest rates of 6% in 2017, which affected total borrowing costs.”
