VoiceStream acquisition weighs down new owner
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, July 31, 2001
Associated Press
FRANKFURT, Germany — Deutsche Telekom AG, Europe’s biggest phone company, broke even in the second quarter as heavy spending on mobile licenses and the buyout of Bellevue-based VoiceStream Wireless weighed down its earnings.
The Bonn, Germany-based company did not release detailed financial statements for the quarter on Tuesday, but said it had a loss of 400 million euros ($348 million) for the first six months of the year ended June 30. That was unchanged from its hefty loss in the first quarter.
Excluding one-time gains and losses, Deutsche Telekom posted a half-year loss of nearly 1.2 billion euros ($1 billion), adding to the firm’s woes as it tries to weather a downturn in the telecommunications sector.
The preliminary figures contrast with the company’s 700 million-euro profit in the first half of last year. Deutsche Telekom will release its complete earnings report on August 28.
After examining the results, Deutsche Telekom said it has decided not to launch a public offering for its mobile subsidiary, T-Mobile, this year. The company hadn’t previously set any date for the much-anticipated IPO.
Earnings for the last six months were pulled down in part by a 900 million-euro ($783 million) charge for buying next-generation mobile phone licenses, and 300 million euros ($261 million) chalked up for buying Bellevue, Wash.-based mobile phone company VoiceStream Wireless.
Deutsche Telekom shares tumbled 2.5 percent to 25.11 euros ($28.84) in Frankfurt trading. That’s just above their 52-week low of 23.05 euros and about 50 percent below the high they hit almost a year ago.
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