By Nick Kostov

 

PARIS--Iliad SA (ILD.FR), the French low-cost telecommunications company that is expanding into Italy, reported a 17% rise in first-half net profit on Wednesday as it continued to win over new clients with its ultracheap tariff plans.

Iliad said net profit rose to 190.4 million euros ($212.41 million) from EUR162.9 million in the same period last year. Revenue increased 6.3% to EUR2.3 billion, boosted by new mobile subscribers.

That helped push up first-half earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, by 12% to EUR808.5 million, slightly above forecasts from analysts polled by FactSet.

Iliad last month agreed to acquire a remedy package put together by CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. (0001.HK) and VimpelCom Ltd. (VIP), allowing it to create Italy's fourth mobile operator.

The company has expanded at breakneck speed in the French mobile market since launching offers of as little as EUR2 a month in 2012, forcing rivals such as Bouygues Telecom, Orange SA (ORA.FR) and SFR to cut prices. Its deal to enter Italy came after a failed bid for T-Mobile U.S. in 2014 and several unsuccessful attempts at consolidating the French market since.

"In Italy we have a very nice package of remedies that will allow us to quickly build out a network and become autonomous," said Iliad Chief Executive Maxime Lombardini.

Iliad, owned by billionaire entrepreneur Xavier Niel, added almost 400,000 new mobile subscribers in the first half and 123,000 broadband users. It now has 18.34 million subscribers in fixed and mobile, it said.

 

-Write to Nick Kostov at nick.kostov@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 31, 2016 03:02 ET (07:02 GMT)

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