FRANKFURT - German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom said Thursday it expected to pay an unchanged dividend this year, despite the anticipated sharp rise in bottom-line earnings in 2005 compared with 2004.
In documents formalising the terms of the proposed re-integeration of its Internet arm T-Online, Deutsche Telekom also said it expected net profit in 2007 to decline from the anticipated 2006 levels, as earnings growth tailed off following years of robust growth.
Net profit this year was expected to rise to 4.9 billion euros (6.6 billion dollars) and then to 8.019 billion euros. But earnings were expected to slip to 7.857 billion euros in 2007.
The 2005 dividend was expected to remain steady at the 0.62 euros per share anticipated for 2004.
Investors were disappointed by the news and Deutsche Telekom shares fell 1.27 percent to 15.50 euros as result on the Frankfurt stock exchange.
03/10/2005 11:43 GMT