It has been a tough year to say the least for France Telecom, yet the company remains confident that it will achieve its financial targets for 2009. The once state-run telco has seen an unprecedented number of employee suicides [1] over the past year (25 to date) over poor working conditions and ongoing layoffs.

Achieving these goals won't be easy. France Telecom reported [2] that its third-quarter earnings were $6.72 billion and said that it would cost the company up to $1.45 billion to improve employee morale. However, FT's revenue dropped 6.4 percent to $18.8 billion, falling short of analyst forecasts of $19.03 billion.

"We are exactly in line with what we have said at the end of the year, and I consider that we will be able to deliver the performance we have promised to the market for the full year for France Telecom," Chief Executive Officer Didier Lombard told a news conference in Vietnam's capital.

For more:
- Reuters has this article [3]

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France Telecom sees 24th employee suicide [5]
France Telecom puts restructuring process on hold
[6]Current France Telecom CEO should resign, say political groups [6]