Deutsche Telekom posts Q3 profit
Operator group Deutsche Telekom has recorded a €588m profit in 3Q13 after posting a €7bn loss in the same period of 2012.
The group’s net revenue grew six per cent year on year to reach €15.5bn. Organic revenue growth – adjusted for changes to the Group such as the inclusion of the US operator MetroPCS and exchange rate effects – grew 2.4 per cent.
In the same period a year ago, the firm was forced to make an accounting writedown of €7.4bn resulting from the merger of its US operations with MetroPCS.
The Group said its growth was driven by its United States subsidiary. The implementation of T-Mobile USA’s “Un-carrier” strategy gave the operator a net gain of more than a million subscribers between July and September. Net customer gains were strengthened in the US with the inclusion of MetroPCS, resulting in a revenue increase of more than 30 per cent, the firm said.
In its home market, the German group’s revenue fell 1.2 per cent year on year, to reach around €5.7bn. Adjusted EBITDA fell by 1.1 per cent to €2.4bn.
More than a third of the 1.2 million smartphones the operator sold in Germany during the period were LTE-enabled devices, the firm said, and mobile data revenue increased 30.7 per cent year on year.
Revenue in Europe declined six per cent year on year in the rest of Europe to reach €3.4bn. The firm said the decline is attributable in part to changes in the composition of the Group, such as the sale of Bulgarian unit Globul.
The firm added that higher market investments in the Netherlands and the intensified price war in the Czech Republic and Croatia resulted in a significant decline in adjusted EBITDA of 13.6 percent to €1.2 bn.
“After an excellent second quarter, these figures are further proof of our strength,” said René Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom. “In the United States, we have managed to achieve an impressive turnaround and in our home market we show ongoing stability, making us the envy of many companies in our industry.”
