Orange Polska reports worse-than-expected Q3 profit decline

GDANSK, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Orange Polska on Wednesday reported a worse-than-expected 10% decline in its third quarter net profit, due to higher finance costs, but confirmed its full year guidance for revenue and core earnings. Third quarter net profit came in at 228 million zlotys ($63 million). Analysts polled by Reuters had expected net profit to come in at 250 million zlotys. The Polish business of France's Orange said the profit drop was due to higher net finance costs following its purchase of a 5G spectrum licence. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Orange Polska is the largest listed telecoms company in Poland by market capitalisation, valued at 12.20 billion zlotys, ahead of media group Cyfrowy Polsat at 9.04 billion zlotys. BY THE NUMBERS Third-quarter revenue rose 9.3% year-on-year to 3.33 billion zlotys, while core earnings (EBITDAaL) grew 2.9% to 899 million zlotys, driven by strong direct margin and cost containment. The company added 108,000 mobile customers in the quarter. KEY QUOTES "We are pleased with customer net additions, especially in mobile (…) exceeding 100,000, for the first time in few years." CEO Liudmila Climoc said in a press release. "The results achieved over the last nine months give us high confidence in reaching this year's guidance," she added. (Reporting by Marta Maciag; Editing by Matt Scuffham)

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