Rene Obermann

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 ... Read Full Story

BERLIN (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom <DTEGn.DE> and France Telecom <FTE.PA> have launched exclusive talks to merge their British mobile units in a joint venture that would grab the top spot in the cut-throat UK market. The partners plan to reach an agreement by the end of October, Deutsche Telekom said on Tuesday. If the talks succeed, the deal would remove one of five operators from the crowded market and help relieve intense competition. Merging Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile UK with France Telecom's Orange UK is expected to generate synergies worth more than 4 billion euros ($5.74 billion), the German group said. The transaction should boost ... Read Full Story

German telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom posted on Thursday a solid jump in its second quarter net profit as it integrated a recent Greek acquisition, and confirmed its full-year targets. Deutsche Telekom recorded a 32 percent hike in profit to 521 million euros (750 million dollars) on sales that increased by 7.4 percent to 16.24 billion euros. Core earnings which the telecoms operator uses in its forecast rose by 8.4 percent from the same period a year earlier to 5.26 billion euros, slightly better than expected, a statement said. "We confirm our forecast for 2009" of a small drop in earnings, it quoted chairman Rene ... Read Full Story

German telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom posted on Thursday a 32 percent jump in second quarter net profit and confirmed its full-year targets. Deutsche Telekom recorded a profit of 521 million euros (750 million dollars) on sales that increased by 7.4 percent to 16.24 billion euros. Core earnings which the telecoms operator uses in its forecast rose by 8.4 percent from the same period a year earlier to 5.26 billion euros, slightly better than expected, a statement said. For the first half of 2009, the group fell into the red, however, making a net loss of 603 million euros compared with a profit of 1.32 ... Read Full Story

Germany's biggest bank, Deutsche Bank, is embroiled in another spying scandal in the corporate sector that according to a financial source has led two managers to leave the company amid a probe by prosecutors. The head of security for the bank and its head of investor relations "have left the company," the source told AFP on Tuesday. State prosecutors are checking whether the evidence warrants a formal investigation, but the person in charge is on holiday and "he will only look into it once he gets back," a spokeswoman told AFP. Deutsche Bank declined to comment, saying it was waiting for the results of ... Read Full Story