Deutsche Telecom posts surprise Q4 loss

Europe's largest telecom group posted a net loss of $920 million, as compared to a $949 million loss a year ago when the company had to book retirement charges. A group of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg predicted that DT would put up a $966 million profit.

The loss resulted from a combination of an impairment charge and job-cut related expenses. The Wall Street Journal pointed out that DT also posted higher sales and operating profits that beat analyst forecasts. Sales in Q4 climbed 2 percent to $20.4 billion, and EBIDTA was up 1.3 percent to $5.9 billion, compared to last year.

Like with every other phone company on the planet, DT's fixed line business continued to decline while the wireless side continues to grow; data revenues are also up due to sales of the iPhone in Germany and the G1 in the US and UK.  T-Mobile USA continued to drive profits with double-digit growth rates, while the UK and Germany mobile divisions had declines due to heavy competition. T-Mobile has a total customer base of over 128 million.

For more:
- Washington Post carries mocoNews piece. Post [1].

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