Italy's BT Albacom could be interested in rival Atlanet, currently owned by Fiat, CEO Corrado Sciolla said on June 10, adding the telecoms firm expects its core profit to climb 50 percent this fiscal year. "We are interested should (Atlanet) be put on sale. At the moment there is nothing concrete," Sciolla told a news conference in Milan.
Auto group Fiat has sold several non-core assets as it seeks to pull out of the worst crisis in its history. CEO Sergio Marchionne has said it could sell other non-core assets.
British telecoms company BT took full control of Albacom last year, buying out partners Eni , Mediaset and Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, as it sought opportunities beyond its fiercely competitive home market.
The firm said on Friday there were no further ownership reshuffles on the agenda, despite speculation that Internet services company Inet, in which
BT owns a 51 percent stake, could be merged with Albacom or delisted if BT bought out minority shareholders.
"At the moment, this is not on the agenda," said Francois Barrault, president of BT International.
BT Albacom, which closed the year to March 2005 with a 4 percent rise in sales, expects to end the current fiscal year with core profit of 60 million euros ($73.4 million), up 50 percent, on sales of 725 million euros, up 10 percent.
Albacom is the second-largest Italian business telecoms provider behind Telecom Italia, with an 11 percent share of the data services market.