Deutsche Telekom posted a 2002 net loss of €24.6 billion today, the largest in German corporate history, but its fourth quarter indicated the worst is over.
Write-downs and charges of €19.3 billion on assets bought at inflated prices during the tech bubble plunged the German giant into the red, outstripping its French, Dutch and Spanish rivals, which have also posted record losses.
But Europe's largest telecoms carrier, whose annual loss ranks it along with Vodafone, Vivendi Universal and France Telecom in the €20-billion-plus club, topped forecasts for core earnings, revenues and debt reduction.
"We are well aware of the scale of this [net] figure," said chief executive Mr Kai-Uwe Ricke. "The results reflect the grave situation that the company found itself in last year. We are in no way trying to gloss over this".Analysts said the results had sparked questions about why the telecoms giant had decided to launch a controversial €2.3 billion bond, which is convertible into its languishing shares in three years.
The company, whose debt rating is rated at one notch above "junk" grade by credit ratings agency Moody's and three notches above junk by Standard & Poor's, cut its debt pile by €3 billion to €61.1 billion in the last quarter after asset sales, strong free cashflow and a weaker dollar.