With the numbers for the first quarter, Deutsche Telekom exceeded the forecasts of analysts.
(Photo: IMAGO/sepp spiegl)
Berlin After an increase in earnings in the first quarter, Deutsche Telekom is more optimistic about the year as a whole. “That was a strong start to the new year,” said CFO Christian Illek on Friday. “We continue to grow organically and are therefore able to raise our guidance for 2022.”
The Bonn-based Dax group now expects the adjusted operating result (Ebitda AL) to be more than 36.6 billion euros. So far, around 36.5 billion euros had been promised. In the first quarter, Ebitda AL climbed 6.8 percent to 9.9 billion euros, while revenue increased 6.2 percent to 28 billion euros. Both were above analyst forecasts.
The most important pillar in Bonn’s business is still the US subsidiary T-Mobile US. Around 64 percent of the group’s sales were generated in the highly competitive US market with top dogs AT&T and Verizon. In the meantime, the Bonn-based company has increased its stake in T-Mobile US to 48.4 percent and bought shares from Softbank for 2.4 billion dollars, but according to company boss Timotheus Höttges they are aiming for a controlling majority “shortly”.
The sale of the radio tower business, which insiders say has now been launched, could also be used for financing. Accordingly, the group accepts bids for the acquisition of a majority as well as a minority. According to earlier statements by insiders, Vodafone subsidiary Vantage Towers, a consortium led by KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) are interested in both variants. In the meantime, Telekom has expanded the operating result of the radio tower business by 10.2 percent to 173 million euros and has now increased the number of locations to 40,500.
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Measured by the operating result and new customer business, things went almost all around the world. T-Systems’ major customer business continues to struggle. Thanks to extensive savings, the operating result jumped by 18 percent, but sales fell slightly to one billion euros. The order intake, which increased by 23 percent, was positive.
The collective bargaining agreement reached with the Verdi union on Thursday, according to which the salaries of around 55,000 employees will be increased by up to 5.2 percent in two stages, should create a good mood internally. Verdi negotiator Frank Sauerland spoke of a good result that creates security and prospects for Telekom employees.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article was headlined “Deutsche Telekom slightly increases forecast for 2023”. However, the forecast increase relates to the current financial year.
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