France Telecom has eked out some much-needed leeway in the flotation of its Orange mobile unit by giving itself until the end of the first quarter next year to prepare for its intial public offering and stock market listing.

Graham Howe, Orange's chief financial officer, said on Tuesday that the listing of France Telecom's mobile business was likely to be kicked off in January but not completed until some point in February. The IPO for Orange had been widely expected to come straight off the blocks in the new year.