April 24 Reuters French telecoms operator Orange reported on Wednesday a drop in firstquarter fixed broadband customers in its home market, knocking its shares despite meeting core operating profit expectations on growth in Africa and the Middle East.

The shares were down 2.4 at 0932 GMT, compared with a 0.2 rise for Europe39;s STOXX 600 index and a 0.15 increase for France39;s bluechip index CAC 40.

Orange lost a net 43,000 fixed broadband customers in France during the quarter, it said in a statement.

We see, indeed, an overall decrease on the French market, certainly due to the fact that we are postCOVID, JeanFrançois Fallacher, Orange France39;s CEO, said in a call with analysts, as demand for broadband services fades after the pandemic led many people to work from home.

He said the slowdown was also explained by pressure on household budgets.

Orange recently reduced the duration of promotions from 12 to six months in France, where the group competes with broadband provider Free, among others.

However, Orange39;s revenues in France returned to growth and reached 4.34 billion euros in the quarter, mainly boosted by growth in retail services. The last time it saw growth in France was in the final quarter of 2022.

Africa and the Middle East, the main contributor to growth in the quarter, saw revenue increase by 11.1 to 1.85 billion euros, also boosted by retail services.

Orange39;s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after leases EBITDAaL…