Elbow room

14 February 2006 By Mike Verdin

Spread over three years, this target should be a cinch. The French telecoms operator has been ditching staff at a far faster rate. But when FT has got into such trouble for breaking its promises, it is not surprising it wants to set the bar low.

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France Telecom said it would cut 22,000 jobs in France and 1,000 from its foreign businesses by 2008. The former state monopoly, which employs about 200,000 staff, will take on 6,000 staff over the period. The company will also axe E2bn a year from underlying operating costs.

FT announced the cuts as it revealed a 2.8% rise to E18.4bn in ebitda last year on revenues up 6.2% at E49bn. Excluding acquisitions and oneoff charges, ebitda rose 0.8% on revenues up 2.5% at E47.8bn.

The group restated that ebitda would fall by between one and two percentage points this year, on underlying revenues up by about 2%. FT's dividend will rise to E1.20 a share from E1.00 for 2005.

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