The French telecommunications group Iliad is back to growth, arriving in Italy in the spring of 2018, where today it has reached the threshold of 5 million subscribers: after a difficult 2018, 2019 saw a growth in turnover in France of 3% (of 6% in the fourth quarter alone) to 4,9 billion and Ebitda by 5,5% to 1,9 billion. The total turnover (including Italy) exceeds 5 billion, at 5,33. Beyond the Alps, the group founded by Xavier Niel, which still holds 71% of the shares, now has almost 20 million subscribers and is the first ever operator in optical fiber, with almost 14 million users (up 45% compared to 2018). For mobile, there were almost 400.000 new 4G contracts in the calendar year.
Particularly positive, as highlighted by the same Iliad press release, the performance in Italy, the only country outside France where the group is present: during 2019, Italian customers increased by another 2,4 million, with 740.000 customers in the last quarter of 2019 alone. The total revenues obtained in our country are instead 427 million euros (from 125 in 2018, which however started in the middle of the year). On the sidelines, Iliad points out that it has guaranteed 10GB of international calls for iliad Voce on the occasion of the Coronavirus emergency. For 2020, the ambitious Odyssée 2024 plan is expected to continue, which envisages the assault on 5G and the continuation of the partnership already started, for the network in France and Italy, with Cellnex, the Spanish tower company chaired by Franco Bernabé .
“We are engaged on the front line in the face of the Coronavirus – DG Thomas Reynaud said in the note released to the press -: our priority is ensure the safety and health of our 11.000 employees and at the same time carry on our mission as telephone operators in a delicate moment, in which people need the network to work to get information, contact their loved ones and work from their homes". Even the Paris Stock Exchange, in rather difficult days on the markets, has rewarded the results of Iliad, which in mid-morning leads the SBF 120 index, gaining 17%.
