Orange
Orange has announced it has achieved all of its 2021 targets and expects to generate a cash flow of around €2.9 billion in 2022.
The operator says it expects a return to profit growth in 2022 after lower returns from co-financing deals and high competition in the Spanish market.
It expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after leases (EBITDAaL) to grow by 2.5% to 3$ in 2022 compared with 0.5% in 2021.
Revenues, though, were up 0.8% in 2021 from €42.5 billion.
Stephane Richard, outgoing chairman and CEO of Orange said: “The Group’s results reflect a solid 2021 performance.
“Indeed, Orange has delivered on its commitments and is confirming all its objectives for 2023, including organic cash flow of between 3.5 and 4 billion euros.
“Thanks to our investments, today we’re the uncontested European fibre optic leader with a vast network of over 56 million connectable households across the Group’s footprint.”
Alongside its increased revenues, the Group reporter 11.5 million convergent customers in 2021, up 2.1% year-on-year and 224.3 million mobile customers, up 4.3% year-on-year.
Cisco
Cisco announced Q2 revenue of $12.7 billion, net income of $3 billion and non-GAAP (generally accepted account principals) net income of $3.5 billion in its latest financial results.
Alongside that, the company reported a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per common share, a 1-cent increase or up 3% over the previous quarter’s dividend.
The board of directors has also approved a $15 billion increase to the authorization of the stock repurchase programme. There is no fixed termination date for this programme but the remaining amount for stock repurchases is around $18 billion.
"We continue to see incredibly strong demand across our portfolio, emphasizing the criticality and relevance of Cisco's innovation," said Chuck Robbins, chair and CEO of Cisco.
"Our robust order strength, record backlog and double-digit growth in annual recurring revenue position us well to deliver growth."
Cash flow from operating activities was $2.5 billion for the second fiscal of Q2 2022, a decrease of 17% compared with the same quarter of 2021.
Scott Herren, CFO of Cisco added: "Our business performed well with revenue and non-GAAP EPS growing 6% year over year despite the supply-constrained environment,” referencing the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We delivered healthy margins while continuing to make good progress in our business model shift, with software product revenue growing 9% year over year and the product portions of ARR and RPO growing in double digits.
“The combination of our dividend increase and additional share repurchase authorization demonstrates our commitment to returning excess capital to our shareholders and confidence in our ongoing cash flows."
Ribbon
Ribbon Communications says it did not meet expectations for its financial results despite making progress on its overall strategy.
The firm reported $231 million in revenue for Q4 2021 compared to $244 million for Q4 2020 but this number was $83 million higher than Q3 2021. Meanwhile, overall revenue for 2021 was $845 million compared to $844 million for 2020.
Our IP Optical Networks sales grew 22% sequentially in the fourth quarter and full-year revenue in North America grew 164% year over year,” said Bruce McClelland, president and CEO of Ribbon Communications.
“We had several new wins with major carriers that we expect to begin to contribute in the second half of 2022.”
McClelland expects 10%+ full-year revenue with further growth in IP Optical Networks. He adds that there is a substantial growth opportunity presented by this business amidst a strong demand backdrop.
The company projects revenue of $165 million to $180 million in Q1 2022. For the full year of 2022, it projects revenue of around $850 million to $880 million but this outlook assumes no “worsening of conditions related to the Covid-19 pandemic or supply chain disruptions”.
