(adds CEO comment, unit performance, details on costs savings)
BONN (Thomson Financial) - Deutsche Telekom AG. said its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the second quarter fell to 4.850 billion euros from 4.902 billion last year, mainly due to ongoing weakness in the company's domestic fixed-line segment.
However, the result was above the 4.815 billion euros consensus of nine analysts polled by Thomson Financial News.
Second-quarter sales came in at 15.125 billion euros, compared with 15.575 billion in the previous year, while analysts had forecast 15.136 billion.
Adjusted net profit for the period totaled 633 million euros, up from last year's 574 million euros, but below the analyst forecast of 768 million euros.
The company reiterated its full-year guidance, still expecting adjusted EBITDA for the full year to be about 19.3 billion euros, while free cash flow before dividend payments is still seen at 6.6 billion euros.
'We made good progress during the first half of the year in achieving our strategic objectives, both in operations and with our cost savings,' chief executive Rene Obermann said in a company statement.
Adjusted EBITDA at the company's T-Mobile unit reached 2.817 billion euros, up from 2.750 billion last year, and also above the 2.782 billion consensus.
In the T-Home segment, adjusted EBITDA remained flat at 1.903 billion euros, compared with 1.905 billion in the previous year's quarter, but still above the 1.856 billion forecast.
However, over the second quarter, the company lost 655,000 fixed-network line customers, nearly all of them in Germany, it added.
T-Systems posted adjusted EBITDA of 194 million euros, down 30.7 percent from last year, and below the analyst forecast of 225 million euros.
The company said that within the 'Save for Services' program -- by which it is targeting savings of 4.2 billion to 4.7 billion euros per year from 2010 onwards -- it was able to cut costs by about 700 million euros in the first half of 2008.
This brings total savings from the program, since its launch about two years ago, to 3.0 billion euros, it added. christoph.steitz@thomsonreuters.com cs1/ejp/cs1/ejp COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
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