Deutsche Telecom sees income dip

And UK mobe subs stand still

Deutsche Telecom is reporting a good first half of 2008, with income dipping only slightly by three per cent to €30.1bn, though that can be "adjusted" into an "organic" increase of 0.3 per cent. This produced an adjusted net profit of €1.4bn.

The adjustment is allowed because of fluctuations in exchange rates and changes in the composition of the group, which also let the group adjust its EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) from a drop of 0.5 per cent to an increase of the same amount.

The pattern is repeated around the regions where Deutsche Telecom operates. T-Mobile Deutschland for example saw a year-on-year drop in revenue of 2.8 per cent, but the adjusted EBITDA rose by 4.3 per cent. In the UK T-Mobile reports a decrease in revenue of 11.5 per cent, compared to the first half of 2007, but apparently this means the EBITDA can be measured in pounds sterling as a drop of only 2.7 per cent.

So overall the figures are down, but not by much.

Customer numbers are slightly up over the period, with the company displaying an additional 10 million mobile customers around the world, and only the UK shows static numbers.

Broadband connections are significantly improved, and the company now connects 14.5 million people to the internet, a jump of two million. Fixed-line connections are dropping off, with more than two million Germans getting their telephony elsewhere and reducing the customer base to just over 35 million.

The company confirmed its targets for the full year - it expects to make Ebitda profit of €19.3bn. DT shares rose very slightly on the news.

Broadband and fixed-line aren't broken down by country, but the rest of the details are available in the company's statement. ®