Twenty years of stagnation, with operating profit falling by a quarter between the beginning and the end of this period. This margin squeeze is partly due to an ultra-saturated competitive landscape in Europe, where the regulator remains rather reluctant to consolidate the sector.

In the end, earnings per share were halved. Orange has also benefited greatly from low interest rates: its cost of debt was around 8% in 2003, compared with just over 4% last year. It is to be hoped that there will be no unpleasant surprises in this area in the future.

In terms of cash flow, while cash flow is not increasing - it is also remarkably identical between 2003 and 2023 - capital expenditure is increasing by 50%. As we can see, inflation has an impact on costs, but not on revenues.

In the absence of growth, shareholders will find comfort in dividends. At EUR0.7 per share in 2023, payouts have been in comparable territory for the past ten years - even though they were EUR0.8 in 2013. This is a far cry from the highs reached between 2008 and 2011, when the dividend reached EUR1.4 per share!

In recent years, free cash flow - calculated by subtracting capital expenditure from operating cash flow - has covered the dividend very well. In this respect, the pressure has eased since the 2015-2019 period, when the payout was not covered three years out of five; hence the increase in debt at that time.

These factors will provide a clearer picture of the Group's results to be published on October 24. At the current price, the 7.1% dividend yield represents a 2.8% risk premium on ten-year US Treasury bonds.