German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom said on November 10 it braved the weak economic environment and negative regulatory decisions and lifted its bottom line in the third quarter. Deutsche Telekom said in a statement it booked net profit of 1.069 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in the period from July to September, up 14.6 percent from the year-earlier figure.
Operating profit, on the other hand, declined by 2.7 percent to 3.9 billion euros and revenues were down 4.1 percent at 11.0 billion euros. "We have once again demonstrated that we can stand our ground in a difficult environment," said chief executive Rene Obermann. Nevertheless, "we cannot afford to be complacent in our efforts as the challenges will continue to intensify," Obermann warned. Deutsche Telekom said it was sticking to its full-year targets "despite persistently difficult conditions characterised by a weak economy and the negative effects of decisions by governments and regulatory authorities in several countries." The group said it was projecting operating profit of around 14.9 billion euros for the whole of 2011, down from 19.5 billion euros in 2010.