Moat, Orange: Strong players will have different strategies

The strongest companies in Romania that entered the crisis with very solid financial records, (with Orange being one of them), will have different strategies in this period compared with times of economic growth. “Whereas in periods of economic growth all players had the same strategy – to grab as much of the market growth as possible – now that the market is going down and demand is contracting, strong players will have different strategies from weak ones. While weak players will fight to survive, strong ones will have other options available and could turn difficult times into opportunities,” Richard Moat, CEO of Orange, the largest player on the mobile telephony market and one of the most profitable companies in Romania, told ZF. “We are very strong financially, we have no debt, a significant customer base and a good cash flow, which places us in a strong position now, as we enter this difficult period,” he added. Orange posted a net profit worth 365 million euros in 2007 and 1.2 billion euros in turnover. Moat says the operator managed to preserve its profitability last year, as well, because it started to cut costs midway through the year and adopted a prudent personnel strategy as early as in 2006.