Greece's OTE Telecom Says 1Q Net Profit Up 89 Pct

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's dominant telecoms operator OTE said Thursday its net profit rose 89 percent in the first quarter of 2009, mainly due to a government share transfer that offset part of the cost of an early retirement program.

OTE said its net profit reached euro266.7 million ($355.3 million) in the January-March period, compared to euro141.1 in the first quarter of 2008.

The company said profit was boosted by a euro200 million transfer of state-owned OTE shares to a state pension fund, under the provisions of a past OTE voluntary retirement deal.

Revenue dropped 5.4 percent to euro1.45 billion, as fixed line sales in Greece and Romania were impacted by competition.

Last year, the Greek government and Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG struck a deal on sharing ownership and management control of OTE, formerly a state monopoly.

Under the agreement, the government and Deutsche Telekom each gained control of 25 percent plus one share of OTE.