German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom said today group sales amounted to €12.9 billion in the first three months of the current year.
That figure is an increase of 16 per cent from the corresponding period a year earlier.
At the same time, Deutsche Telekom's net debt rose to €67.2 billion by the end of March from €62.1 billion at the end of last year, the group said at its annual earnings news conference.
First-quarter sales in its mobile phone divison, grouped under T-Mobile International, shot up "by more than 66 per ent to around €4.5 billion," Deutsche Telekom said.
Chief financial officer Mr Karl-Gerhard Eick said the group was "under no pressure" in terms of its liquidity situation to list T-Mobile on the stock exchange.
Deutsche Telekom has already been compelled to postpone the flotation of its mobile phone arm twice in view of the poor conditions on the stock markets.
Mr Eick refused to name a new date for such a move, saying simply that "we're watching the markets." But he did not rule out that a listing could raise less than the €10 billion the markets were expecting.
AFP