More to do

1 March 2007 By Mike Verdin

The German telecoms group s new boss may have fluffed his big chance to get investors back onside. He s ducked DT s real problem job cuts. While raising cash from unwanted assets looks sensible, proposing to blow it on outoffootprint deals may not be the best use of the money.

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Deutsche Telekom, the German telecoms operator, unveiled plans to expand abroad in mobile, possibly into new markets and regions.

Funds for deals would be raised from selling noncore assets including: US and German radio towers; internet companies in France and Spain; the TSystems Media and Broadcast business; the group property portfolio; and its stake in Sireo, a property company.

The group also prioritised improving its competitiveness in Germany in all telecoms markets through streamlining its sales network, simplifying its brands and sticking by costcutting targets of E2.0bn for this year and E4.2bn4.7bn for 2010. Infrastructure improvements will allow 17m German customers to receive television over the internet by the end of the year.

The announcements came as DT unveiled fourth quarter earnings of E820m, excluding oneoff factors, down 19.5% on the same period in 2005. Revenues grew 2.4% to E15.8bn.

The group left its dividend unchanged at 0.72 a share.

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