FRANKFURT AM MAIN: German network operator Deutsche Telekom yesterday confirmed its 2019 outlook after almost doubling profits in the second quarter, as its American mobile arm again saw surging customer numbers. In April-June, Telekom booked an increase in net profit of 91 percent year-on-year, to 944 million euros.
The comparison to 2018’s second quarter was distorted by a huge one-off payment to the German government last year over road toll business Toll Collect. Operating, or underlying profit was stable, at 2.35 billion euros, on the back of revenues up 7.1 percent at 19.6 billion.
Telekom managed to outperform on revenue but fall short on profitability compared with expectations from analysts surveyed by Factset. US mobile arm T-Mobile was once again the growth driver for the group, adding 1.8 million net customers in April-June to top 83 million. It has now secured the go-ahead from American authorities to merge with competitor Sprint, creating a number-three firm in the market with the scale to compete with leaders Verizon and AT&T. At home in Europe, massive outlays lie ahead as Telekom begins building out its
next-generation 5G network in Germany, costing 2.2 billion euros.
The group said its bundling of mobile and landline services was continuing to win over new customers in Germany, with similar products now on offer in all its European markets after it added Austria and Poland. Looking to the full year, Telekom stuck to its forecast of revenue growth between one and two percent and operating profit as measured by Ebitda of 23.9 billion euros, 2.5 percent higher than in 2018. – AFP
