Deutsche Telekom hits Debt Reduction Goal

Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s largest telecommunications company, unveiled surprising third-quarter earnings on Thursday as it continues to make progress in reducing its colossal mountain of debt. The German telecommunications giant said in its interim report that it swung back into profit in the period from July to September when it booked net profit of €508 million ($590 million), compared with a loss of €20.6 billion a year earlier. The record year-earlier loss was attributable to huge asset write downs as part of a financial clean-up operation. The company’s statement added that Deutsche Telekom had succeeded in slashing overall net debt to €49.2 billion as of the end of September, a reduction of €3.8 billion from June and a drop of €15.1 billion from year-earlier levels, meaning the group has already met its target of cutting its debt to around €50 billion by the end of this year.