Orange CEO Christel Heydemann has suggested the French telco giant could swoop for domestic rival SFR.

During the company's earnings call today, Heydemann said Orange could buy assets from Altice-owned SFR.

Recent reports have emerged that Altice owner Patrick Drahi plans to break up SFR, as Altice seeks to reduce its debt.

Those reports have got the other telcos in France interested, including Orange, with Heydemann noting it was “ready to engage" in talks.

“We do see a need for consolidation,” she noted. “We think this is true in France, and I think this is true in Europe."

Heydemann added that Orange has been active in consolidation in other markets in the past, including Romania, Belgium, and, more recently, in Spain last year with MásOrange.

A separate report emerged last week that the carrier is looking to acquire the 50 percent stake in MásOrange that it does not own.

"The first priority, as I said, is to make sure that there's a clear case for a four-to-three market consolidation, and it's true that this means antitrust authorities' political support," she added.

A sale of SFR would reduce the French mobile market from four mobile operators down to three, further driving consolidation talk in Europe's key mobile markets.

SFR has around 26 million mobile customers across France. Orange, which is France's biggest telco, has around 35m. Other domestic telcos, including Iliad (Free) and Bouygues Telecom, are also interested in SFR's assets.

The move to a three-carrier market would fall in line with other European markets, such as the UK, where Vodafone and Three completed their merger last month.

Other European telco chiefs have been vocal around consolidation this year, none more so than Telefónica's CEO Marc Murtra, who says Europe risks falling behind.

Flat H1 earnings, MEA performs well

For the first half of the year, Orange reported revenue of €19.8 billion ($22.8bn), which remained flat year-on-year.

The company noted that sales in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) were up 12.8 percent, while revenue in France declined by 2.2 percent YoY. Revenue across Europe remained stable, said Orange.

Heydemann said the growth in the MEA was driven by Orange's 4G and 5G networks, plus growth in Orange Money and B2B.

However, Orange Business reported a decrease in revenue of 5.4 percent, which the company blamed on a decline in revenue for fixed-only and mobile, though Orange Cyberdefense revenues grew by 6.9 percent.

EBITDAaL was up 4.2 percent YoY to €3.2 billion ($3.7 billion).

Orange has raised its full-year guidance by three percent following its H1 results.