Bonn - Deutsche Telekom reported increased third quarter profits on Thursday despite falling revenue. Net profit in the third quarter increased by 600 million euros (760 million dollars) to 895 million euros compared to the same period last year, Germany's biggest telecommunications company said.
Adjusted for special factors net profit increased by 12 per cent to 1.18 billion euros.
Despite a 1.5 per cent decline in revenues to 15.4 billion euros, Deutsche Telekom chief executive Rene Obermann said the company had been "relatively resistant" to the global economic slowdown so far.
"Deutsche Telekom is well-positioned in financial terms, our balance sheet ratios are good, and our short and medium-term funding is on a broad and solid footing," Obermann said.
"We have again made extremely good operational progress in the third quarter and are on the right track to achieving our targets for 2008," he added.
The third-quarter earnings helped drive profits for the first nine months of the year to 2.2 billion euros, a jump of 67 per cent from the corresponding period of 2007.
At the same time, revenues declined 2.5 per cent in the first nine months to 45.5 billion euros.
Telekom shares decline 2.6 per cent on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange after the figures were announced.
