Deutsche Telekom Expects Adjusted Earnings Growth to Pick up

By Adria Calatayud

Deutsche Telekom forecast growth in adjusted earnings would pick up this year, supported by its U.S. and European operations, but reported a fall in net profit for the fourth quarter.

The German telecommunications giant said Friday that adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization after leases--a closely watched metric in the industry--to be around 42.9 billion euros ($46.44 billion) in 2024, up 6% on year.

Free cash flow after leases is expected to increase by 16% to EUR18.9 billion, while adjusted earnings per share are estimated to grow 10% to more than EUR1.75, the company said.

For the fourth quarter, Deutsche Telekom made a net profit of EUR1.83 billion, down from EUR1.99 billion in the same period last year. Revenue declined 1.3% to EUR29.37 billion, but service revenue was up 0.7%, with growth in Germany and other European markets offsetting a fall in the U.S.

Quarterly adjusted Ebitda after leases edged 0.5% higher at EUR10.01 billion.

Analysts had forecast the company's net profit at EUR1.63 billion, adjusted Ebitda after leases of EUR10.07 billion and revenue of EUR28.49 billion, according to consensus estimates provided by the company.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 23, 2024 01:36 ET (06:36 GMT)

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