Deutsche Telekom reported a 13 per cent increase in first-quarter revenue to €16.8 billion owing to a weak euro and strong growth from T-Mobile US, in which it has a 66 per cent stake, although net profit fell by 57 per cent from €1.8 billion ($2 billion) to €0.8 billion.

“T-Mobile US continued on its course of strong growth, reporting the highest figures among the national US providers” with revenue increasing by 11.7 percent to $7.7 billion, the company said in a statement, adding that with 1.8 million net adds in the first quarter, its customer base was up by almost 7.8 million compared with the previous year.

T-Mobile US’ 4G LTE network now covers 275 million people in the United States. This figure is expected to increase to 300 million by the end of the year.

Domestic performance
In its home market of Germany where “mobile business in particular gained momentum”, revenue went up by 1.9 percent and mobile subscribers rose slightly to 39.2 million.

Revenue from mobile services rose 2.8 percent, helped by a fast 4G mobile network and the popularity of the iPhone 6.

The company wants to secure wireless licenses in the first spectrum auction in five years in the country, scheduled to start on 27 May.

The substantial fall in net profit was explained by an income of €1.7 billion recorded in the prior year from divestitures in connection with the sale of the Scout24 group, an online classified advertising company, as well as “the increase of €0.2 billion in depreciation and amortisation compared with the prior year period, primarily due to the roll-out of the LTE network as part of T-Mobile US’ network modernisation programme”.

It added that the decrease was partially offset by a €0.3 billion lower loss from financial activities and a €0.3 billion lower tax expense.

Timotheus Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, commented that “it has been some time since we have seen positive indications for revenue and earnings in our industry. Our clear strategy with strong investment is paying off.”