Deutsche Telekom ups guidance after solid Q3

Revenue came in at €28.5 billion, up 3.6 percent compared to last year on an organic basis – i.e. excluding forex fluctuations and changes to the group's composition. Service revenue grew 3.8 percent to €24.1 billion, while adjusted EBITDAaL was €11.1 billion, an increase of 6.4 percent.

The results prompted DT to yet again raise its full-year guidance, albeit slightly.

It now expects adjusted EBITDAaL of around €43 billion, up from its previous guidance of €42.9 billion. That's a modest increase, but it all contributes to the feel-good factor, especially considering DT mere months ago upped its cash flow guidance off the back of its Q2 results.

"The growth momentum continues unabated on both sides of the Atlantic," said DT's finance chief Christian Illek. "At the same time, we have successfully brought our leverage ratio back down to below our target value."

That ratio of net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 2.64 at the end of September, down from 2.94 a year earlier, and now comfortably below its 2.75 target. Free cash flow after leases was a significant contributor – it jumped 32 percent year-on-year to €6.2 billion.

As always, it's the performance of T-Mobile US that matters most.

Revenue there was up 3.7 percent to €18.3 billion, while adjusted EBITDAaL jumped 6.7 percent to €7.2 billion. T-Mobile US added 865,000 postpaid phone customers during the quarter, and 415,000 high-speed Internet customers.

T-Mobile US accounted for around 64 percent of group revenue and 65 percent of EBITDAaL – up slightly from 62 percent and 64.7 percent respectively in Q3 last year – underscoring the significant bearing it has on the German incumbent's overall fortunes.

That's not to take too much away from DT's other divisions.

Its domestic operation turned in another strong performance, as its postpaid mobile customer base swelled by 327,000, leaving it with 26.2 million in total. Including prepaid users, DT now has 66.9 million mobile customers.

FTTH additions almost doubled year-on-year to 131,000 from 77,000. DT was a late arrival to the FTTH market, so doesn't share customer numbers – instead they're bundled in with various dilute forms of fibre broadband, including FTTC. Its FTTx base reached 13.2 million at the end of September, compared to 12.6 million a year earlier.

Overall its broadband customer base netted 38,000 new customers, and DT's TV customer base grew by 76,000.

This positive direction of operational travel helped to drive domestic revenue up 2.5 percent to €6.5 billion, while EBITDAaL was up 3.5 percent to €2.7 billion.

Meanwhile, DT's European business excluding Germany also turned in a reasonably solid quarter. Revenue grew by 3.9 percent to €3.1 billion, and EBITDAaL jumped 7.7 percent to €1.2 billion.

However, quarterly net additions were noticeably lower across the board.

Postpaid mobile net adds fell to 176,000 from 223,000, and it was the same story for broadband, where they fell to 47,000 from 76,000. TV net adds were down to 41,000 from 52,000, while the fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) business saw them fall to 143,000 from 167,000.

It's by no means panic stations yet – the European business is still growing, after all – but given all the self-congratulatory backslapping about Germany and the US, it's perhaps one to keep half an eye on.