Deutsche Telekom Q3 Net Income Up 7 Pct

MATT MOORE

BERLIN (AP) — Deutsche Telekom AG reported Thursday that third-quarter net income rose 7 percent as it focused on controlling costs and developing key markets in the U.S., Britain and Poland.

Telekom, based in Bonn, said net income of euro959 million ($1.4 billion) in the July-September period compared with euro895 million a year earlier. This quarter's figure includes results for Greece's Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA, or OTE, which it acquired last year.

Revenue rose 5 percent to nearly euro16.3 billion in the quarter from euro15.5 billion.

"We have continued the positive trend of the second quarter and have picked up the pace," Chief Executive Rene Obermann said. "We responded quickly and took effective steps in those markets we were concentrating on in the first quarter — the United Kingdom, the United States, and Poland."

Investors welcomed the report and pushed Deutsche Telekom shares 2.3 percent higher to close at euro9.50 in Frankfurt trading.

Telekom said its business in Britain, T-Mobile UK, had stabilized and, in September, it began talks with France Telecom SA about setting up a joint venture between it and Orange.