Deutsche Telekom has reached an agreement for French operator Neuf Cegetel to acquire all the shares in its French T-Online subsidiary, which operates under the Club Internet brand. Although no financial details have been disclosed, the deal is expected to close by the end of this quarter following regulatory approval.It will add a further 600,000 subscribers to the 2,337,000 Neuf Cegetel says it had on March 31.
At the same time, Germany’s incumbent telecoms operator announced a decline in quarterly profits of 58%, the fourth consecutive quarter they have fallen. Net profits were meanwhile €459 million, down from €1.09 billion a year earlier.
The declining results have been caused by a steady fall in the number of fixed-line subscribers for the German operator. Indeed, it lost just under 1 million subscribers in 200, 2 million in 2006 and 600,000 in Q1 2007.
Revenues from its traditional German fixed-line telephony business declined by 6% to €5.1 billion and Operating profit fell by 18% to €1.9 billion.
DT is looking to save €2 billion by shedding 32,000 jobs and raise €3 billion from asset sales such as of its French broadband susbsidiary.
Neuf announced last week its growth continues to accelerate. Revenues climbing by 10% to €781 million in Q1 2007 and the number of broadband subscribers grew by 166,000.