Deutsche Telekom records €6.9bn loss in Q3

Despite seeing flat revenues year on year, German operator group Deutsche Telekom posted a net loss of €6.9bn ($8.8bn) in 3Q12. The loss was attributable to charges incurred by T-Mobile USA.

The firm was forced to make an accounting writedown €7.4bn resulting from the merger of its US operations with MetroPCS. It recorded a net profit of €1.07bn in the same period last year and group revenue stood at €14.7bn for the quarter.

“We made a forward-looking decision for our US business in full awareness of the accounting consequences,” said René Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom. “Anyone seeing only the clear net loss is overlooking the fact that our operating business is completely on track. Unlike many of our competitors, we offer reliability.”

In Germany, revenue totalled €5.7bn; 1.3 per cent down compared with 3Q11. Adjusted EBITDA declined 2.5 per cent to €2.4bn. Throughout the rest of Europe, reduction in mobile termination rates in 9 out of 13 countries had a negative impact on revenue development quarter-on-quarter, the firm said. The negative impact on revenue in the third quarter amounted to more than €100m.

T-Mobile USA recorded 160,000 net additions in the third quarter, however, revenue in the third quarter decreased by 5.9 per cent year-on-year to $4.9bn.