German telco Deutsche Telekom reported an unexpected fourth-quarter loss of 898 million euros ($1.2 billion), pinning the blame on an exodus of landline customers and price pressure from rival providers. It was the company’s first loss since 2005. Sales rose slightly to 15.9 billion euros ($21.01 billion) in the quarter from 15.5 billion euros ($20.4 billion) a year earlier. The company announced it may sell off some of its business and real estate, but stressed that T-Mobile likely will expand its activities outside Germany. T-Mobile, which counts 106 million subscribers in 11 countries, posted pretax earnings of 9.9 billion euros ($13.08 billion) for the year, up from 9.8 billion euros ($12.9 billion) in 2005.
Telekom’s new CEO Rene Obermann, who took over in November, told press: “We want to use our expertise to be able to grow in mobile communications, including the possibility of acquisitions, based on our strict business criteria.” Acquiring the Dutch mobile phone subsidiary of France’s Orange could be part of that strategy. Telekom is rumored to be among the bidders for the company. Earnings release
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