The German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom reported on Thursday nearly unchanged core earnings and revenues in the third quarter, but also a huge net loss due to a write-off in its American branch, while confirming its forecasts for the entire year.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) excluding one-time items amounted to 4.78 billion euros in the third quarter, which is 2.6 percent less than in the same period last year.
Revenues fell by 0.1 percent to 14.7 billion euros, with a 1.7 percent decline in the domestic German market while increasing by 1.1 percent abroad.
DT recorded a net loss of 6.9 billion euros in the third quarter, following a net profit of 1.07 billion euros in the same period last year. The reason cited is the write-off expense in the American subsidiary of 7.4 billion euros, which Deutsche Telekom plans to merge with smaller competitor MetroPCS. Excluding this write-off, DT achieved a net profit of 926 million euros.
The German giant confirmed its forecasts for 2012 and the plan to pay a dividend of at least 70 euro cents per share, announced in February 2010. It plans to distribute a total of 3.4 billion euros to shareholders through dividends and a share buyback program over a period of three years.
