Deutsche Telekom’s net profit topped EUR1 billion in the third-quarter on the back of a recovery at its US unit and ongoing cost-cutting measures. Net profit came in at EUR1.04 billion, up almost 8 percent from a year ago, on revenue of EUR15.6 billion – down 4.1 percent but mainly due to deconsolidation of T-Mobile UK. The firm noted that on a pro forma basis (with the UK deconsolidation excluded) net profit would have risen 22 percent and revenue by 1 percent. The results were slightly ahead of analyst expectations in a Reuters poll and allowed Deutsche Telekom to reaffirm its guidance for the full-year. “We have made our mark and posted good results in an environment that was not always favourable,” said CEO Rene Obermann (pictured) in a statement. The firm noted that its ‘Save for Service’ cost saving programme also remained on track, achieving savings of EUR1.7 billion in the year to date, and expected to now exceed an original full-year target of EUR2 billion.

In its home market (Germany), Deutsche Telekom pointed to strong progress in its mobile segment where service revenue rose 5 percent and mobile data revenue was up nearly 27 percent. Smartphones accounted for 53 percent of all handsets sold in Germany. However, the number of German mobile customers decreased by 4.2 million (to 34.9 million) due to the deregistration of inactive SIM cards (which it claimed had no efffect on revenue). In the US, T-Mobile USA grew its customer base by 137,000 during Q3 (to 33.8 million), after suffering declines in both the previous and year-ago quarters. The firm also noted a “stabilisation” trend in US revenues, which came in at US$4.6 billion, just 0.4 percent lower than a year ago.