By Gianluca Lo Nostro and Leo Marchandon

(Reuters) -French telecoms operator Iliad announced on Thursday a 13.6% increase in its nine-month core profit, fuelled by robust performances across France, Italy and Poland, its three main markets.

The group’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after leases (EBITDAal) – a core operating earnings measure used by many European telcos – rose to 2.89 billion euros ($3.05 billion) in the first nine months of 2024.

“Despite an intensifying competitive dynamic in our markets, this level of growth is well above the average for other European operators, and reflects market share gains in terms of volume,” finance chief Thomas Kienzi told reporters in a call.

France, accounting for two-thirds of Iliad’s core profit, is a battleground for customers, and the company is leveraging one of the country’s largest standalone 5G networks and recently launched cost-effective plans under its Free brand to attract them.

Its aggressive pricing strategy has historically put pressure on other French operators to lower their prices. Last month, rival Bouygues launched a more affordable plan for families a day after Iliad announced a similar offer for its fixed and mobile subscribers.

Iliad reported 131,000 net additions in mobile users for the Free brand in France in the third quarter, alongside 25,000 new broadband subscribers and 137,000 new fibre subscribers.

In Italy, where it operates under the Iliad Italia brand, it saw a net gain of 162,000 mobile subscribers, bringing its market share to 14.4%. It also added 36,000 new fibre subscribers.

In Poland, through its mobile provider Play and broadband operator UPC, Iliad reported an increase of 182,000 in post-paid mobile subscribers, 37,000 prepaid subscribers and 38,000 fixed line subscribers.

Kienzi also confirmed Iliad’s plans to invest 2.5 billion euros over the coming years in its data centres, as it seeks to become “the independent European leader in terms of data centres” to support the emergence of an artificial intelligence ecosystem on the continent.

The unlisted group reaffirmed its aim to generate 10 billion euros in revenue this year.

($1 = 0.9483 euros)

(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Leo Marchandon in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi)