(MENAFN- AFP) German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom slightly raised its 2017 outlook, again driven by strong growth in the United States, as it shrugged off a failed merger bid between T-Mobile and its US rival Sprint.
The group said adjusted operating profits rose by 3.3 percent to 5.7 billion euros ($6.6 billion) between July and September, on the back of revenues up 0.8 percent to 18.3 billion compared with same period a year earlier.
Third-quarter net profit however tumbled by more than 50 percent to 507 million euros, which it said was mainly due to a 1.2-billion-euro impairment loss at its IT subsidiary T-Systems.
"Deutsche Telekom continues to post strong growth, which is why we are upgrading our forecast for the second time this year," said chief executive Tim Hoettges.
"This was made possible by our booming US business, our strong performance in Germany, and the positive trends in our European subsidiaries."
Growth in revenues was strongest at the group's T-Mobile US division, which gained 13 million new customers in third quarter.
T-Mobile and fellow US wireless operator Sprint, a subsidiary of Japan's SoftBank, last Saturday called off merger talks after failing to agree on mutually acceptable terms.
The collapse of the would-be deal drew a line under a tie-up that would have virtually matched second-ranked AT&T and posed stiff competition to market leader Verizon Communications.
Undaunted by the setback, Deutsche Telekom said it now expected adjusted operating profits for the full year to reach 22.4 to 22.5 billion euros, up from 22.3 billion previously.
"It was right to make an attempt," Hoettges said about the scrapped merger talks.
"But it is just as right for T-Mobile US to continue now along its own path. T-Mobile US is ideally positioned for an independent future."
Investors appeared satisfied with Telekom's explanations, with shares in the group up 0.13 percent to trade at 15.07 euros by 1245 GMT, outperforming a DAX blue-chip index down 0.9 percent.
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