Deutsche Telekom says profits up in Q2

German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom said on Thursday that earnings rose sharply in the second quarter, driven by the strong performance of its US subsidiary. ‘It's harvest time for Deutsche Telekom on both sides of the Atlantic,’ the group said in a statement. Net profit rose by 34.2 per cent to 711 million euros ($951 million) in the period from April to June. Underlying or operating profit was up 9.5 per cent at 4.417 billion euros, while revenues slipped by 0.3 per cent to 15.114 billion euros. ‘Our strategy so far has been to make bold and prudent investments, focus first on lifting customer numbers, and then on upping revenues and results. And we are now starting to reap the rewards,’ chief executive Tim Hoettges said. The US unit, T-Mobile US, ‘continued its rapid growth of the last few quarters, passing the 50-million customer mark for the first time in mid-2014.’ In the second quarter alone, 1.47 million new customers were recorded, Telekom said. The US unit ‘has once again revised its growth expectations upwards for the full year.’  Taking the group as a whole, Deutsche Telekom confirmed its full-year earnings target, with underlying profit projected to reach 17.6 billion euros for the whole of 2014, according to AFP.