By Nick Kostov

PARIS--Orange SA Thursday reported third-quarter revenue above analysts' expectations as a tough price war in Europe's mobile market showed signs of easing and revenues in its home market of France continued to stabilize.

The former French telecom monopoly said sales for the three months ended Sept. 30 rose 4.9% to 10.3 billion euros ($11.6 billion) in the same period a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the company to report sales of 10.1 billion euros.

The numbers are a further sign that Orange is steadying the ship after a number of difficult years. The company is facing fierce competition in many of its markets, particularly in Europe, where telecom operators have been cutting prices for mobile and broadband services to increase market share.

"We're seeing an improvement in almost all European markets," Chief Financial Officer Ramon Fernandez said. "This is due to a number of factors including a softer impact from regulation and the growth of high speed broadband."

Earlier this year, Orange said it would aim for sales in 2018 to be higher than in 2014.

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

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 22, 2015 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)