Deutsche Telekom set hold targets today for this year and next after it beat forecasts with a 12 per cent rise in third-quarter core earnings thanks to its booming mobile unit.
Shares in Europe's largest telecoms carrier traded up 1.25 per cent at €13.75 after the targest were announce this morning.
Chief executive Mr Kai-Uwe Ricke said he would now focus on making sure Deutsche Telekom delivers investors an appropriate return on capital, after turning around the heavily indebted company in the year since he succeeded Mr Ron Sommer.
"We have achieved the turnaround," Mr Ricke said at a news conference at the company's headquarters. "This was the first step. The second will be to see that the company again generates an appropriate return on capital."
After beating estimates with €4.71 billion in third-quarter earnings, Deutsche Telekom said it expected full-year 2003 earnings to come in around €18.2 billion.
Deutsche Telekom also beat forecasts with its third straight quarterly net profit at €508 million. That compares with a record loss of €20.6 billion a year ago when Deutsche Telekom purged its balance sheet with a massive write-down.
Net debt fell by €15 billion to €49.2 billion by the end of September, undershooting Deutsche Telekom's original debt target. It now wants to cut debt further while making careful investments.