Deutsche Telekom posted third quarter revenue of 27.6 billion euros, up 0.7 percent in organic terms. High-margin service revenues up 4.1 percent in organic terms.
Net profit was up 21.9 percent to 1.9 billion euros.
“In these uncertain times, Deutsche Telekom continues to grow unabated on both sides of the Atlantic,” said Tim Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom. “We want our shareholders to participate in this positive development by way of a higher dividend.”
Deutsche Telekom raised its guidance for the third time this year. For the full year, the Group now expects adjusted EBITDA AL of around 41.1 billion euros and free cash flow AL of more than 16.1 billion euros, in each case 0.1 billion euros more than planned as of the midpoint of 2023. At the start of the year, expectations for adjusted EBITDA AL were still at around 40.8 billion euros, and for free cash flow AL, at more than 16 billion euros. Adjusted earnings per share are still expected to reach more than 1.60 euros.
Germany
In its home market, Deutsche Telekom recorded a very positive trend in its customer numbers and financial figures in the third quarter. The company once again led the market with 96,000 broadband net additions. 6.7 million or 45 percent of Telekom consumers have now subscribed to a line offering bandwidths of up to 100 Mbit/s or higher. The MagentaTV customer base increased by 51,000 in the quarter to 4.3 million.
The new mobile rate plan structure continues to draw in strong numbers. Telekom recorded 350,000 branded contract customer additions between July and September. Telekom remains market leader in mobile service revenues, which were up 2.9 percent.
Deutsche Telekom has managed to increase its earnings in Germany in every quarter for seven years now. In the third quarter of 2023, adjusted EBITDA AL recorded organic growth of 3.1 percent year-on-year, increasing to 2.6 billion euros. At the same time, revenue increased by 2.1 percent in organic terms to 6.3 billion euros.
U.S.
Between June and September, T-Mobile US recorded postpaid net additions of 1.2 million. The year-on-year decline is attributable to the deactivation of SIM cards issued to students during the coronavirus pandemic, which are now no longer required. In the postpaid phone customer segment, which is particularly important for service revenues, net customer additions were on a par with the prior-year level at 850,000. Both figures represent the best in the U.S. mobile industry. Another 557,000 users opted for the fixed-network high-speed internet substitute product in the third quarter, bringing the customer base for this offering to 4.2 million.
The company recorded organic year-on-year growth in service revenues of 4.7 percent in the quarter to reach 15.9 billion U.S. dollars. The key earnings indicator, adjusted core EBITDA, which eliminates effects from the planned withdrawal from the terminal equipment lease business, grew by 12.7 percent in organic terms to 7.3 billion U.S. dollars.
Europe
The Europe operating segment once again delivered strong financials. In organic terms, adjusted EBITDA AL increased by 3.3 percent year-on-year in the third quarter to 1.1 billion euros. Revenue generated by the European national companies increased by 3.7 percent in organic terms to 3.0 billion euros. This growth was primarily driven by organic growth of 5.2 percent in mobile service revenues.
Customer numbers in Europe also saw good growth. Mobile contract net adds totaled 223,000, the number of broadband lines increased by 76,000, and the number of TV customers by 52,000.
