Free sees modest bounce back

French service provider Free experienced a modest bounce back in the first quarter, with 150,000 new fibre customers, a solid result in Italy and a 7.7% lift in revenues.

Free posted revenues of €1.293 billion, up 7.7%, with services revenue up 6.6% to €1.22 billion and a 30.4% increase in equipment sales to €73 million.

Services revenue was lifted by the company’s mobile offering in Italy. Services revenue in France declined by 0.4% to €1.142 billion, and overall revenues in France were up 1%.

Free said it had reinforced its position as the leading alternative provider of fibre offerings in France, with about half a million subs signed up over the last 12 months, taking its total to over 1.1 million.