BERLIN, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Deutsche Telekom's net revenue increased by 3.5 percent to 19.5 billion euros (21.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter (Q1) of fiscal 2019, Germany's largest telecommunications company announced on Thursday.
Operating profits adjusted for leasing effects (EBITDA AL) rose by nearly 4 percent to 5.9 billion euros, the company said.
"We got off to a successful start to the year," commented Chief Executive Office (CEO) Tim Hoettges, adding that "we are seeing positive trends throughout the group."
Deutsche Telekom's Q1 results were largely driven by its American subsidiary T-Mobile US, which increased its turnover by 7 percent to 11.1 billion dollars, accounting for more than half of Deutsche Telekom's total Q1 turnover.
T-Mobile US has become one of Deutsche Telekom's main growth drivers and has acquired more than one million new customers in every quarter over the last six years. This quarter, it attracted 1.7 million new customers.
Deutsche Telekom is currently planning to take over its U.S. rival Sprint for around 26 billion dollars. However, the planned merger is still awaiting clearance from the U.S. authorities.
Deutsche Telekom's home market was growing less markedly than in the U.S. Turnover in Germany increased by 0.6 percent to 5.4 billion euros.
The company gained customers in Germany in both the fixed network and mobile communications segments. Deutsche Telekom expects its "leading position" in the German mobile communications market to remain unbroken.
Deutsche Telekom's Q1 expenditures amounted to 3.7 billion euros, an increase of nearly 20 percent. Reasons for the higher expenses were the "accelerated network expansion" in the U.S. and ongoing investments in network expansion and modernization in Germany.
Excluded from these expenses, however, were the costs for the "mobile communications spectrum."
