France Telecom, one of the largest communications companies inEurope, could decide to sell its "smaller operations" in Romania,Austria and Belgium in order to focus on markets with a majorgrowth potential in the Middle East and Africa, said GervaisPellissier, the company's chief financial officer, quoted byBloomberg. France Telecom will weigh consolidation opportunities aswell as possible sales, he added without providing details on theduration of the review or the criteria considered.
Orange is leader of the Romanian communications market by allindicators: revenues, profit or number of clients. Orange posted973 million euros in revenues in 2010, more than Vodafone, and had10.4 million clients, more than the other players in the market. In2009, Orange posted a 270 million-euro net profit, which compareswith Vodafone's 245 million euros and the much smaller earnings orlosses of the other rivals.
So why would the Romanian market leader leave this market, andwhat is the signal that the company is sending through this shockvariant? "This is no surprise," says a source close to the company."Such decisions are made before they become urgently necessary. Anassessment of prospects is nothing out of the ordinary," adds thesource.
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