Deutsche Telekom says quarterly profit gains 7pct

FRANKFURT (AFP) - The leading European telecommunications operator, Deutsche Telekom, said Thursday that net profit climbed by seven percent in the third quarter of 2009 and that sales were up by five percent.

Net profit reached 959 million euros (1.42 billion dollars) in the three-month period, up from 895 million in the third quarter of 2008, a statement said.

Sales gained 5.2 percent to 16.26 billion euros, it added, while core earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 10.2 percent to 5.394 billion euros.

Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast sales of 16.27 billion euros and EBITDA, the group's preferred measure of performance, of 5.33 billion euros.

Deutsche Telekom's results benefitted from the consolidation of Greek telecom operator OTE, which added 1.5 billion euros to sales and 600 million to EBITDA.

"We have continued the positive trend of the second quarter and have picked up the pace," chief executive Rene Obermann was quoted as saying.

""We responded quickly and took effective steps in those markets we were concentrating on in the first quarter - the United Kingdom, the United States, and Poland."

Cost-cutting measures had allowed all operating segments of the group to post increased profitability in the quarter, the company said.

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