OTE Reports 4Q Profits Up 78 Percent

Greece's dominant telecoms provider OTE on Thursday reported a 78 percent increase in net profit for the fourth quarter, following the sale of its InfOTE business directory unit.

The company posted a net profit of 229.6 million euros ($354.1 million) for the 12 months to Dec. 31, from 129.1 million euros a year earlier, with revenue rising 2.7 percent to 1.63 billion euros ($2.51 billion) from 1.59 billion euros.

The net profit figure was lower than analysts' expectations of 288 million euros ($444.2 million), although revenue met hopes.

In December, OTE finalized the sale of InfOTE, which boosted its fourth-quarter profit with a 244.7 million euro pretax capital gain.

The benefit was offset by a 40.6 million euro ($62.6 million) fourth-quarter loss at Romtelecom, Romania's former fixed-line monopoly. OTE has a stake of about 54 percent in the company.

Like many European companies, OTE has managed to weather a decline in traditional voice services _ under pressure from new competitors, mobile telephony and regulation _ by taking advantage of rising demand for broadband services. It is predicting a 4 to 5 percent annual decline in fixed-line revenue.

The company said it would not present an updated three-year business plan in April, as previously scheduled, due to the purchase of a stake by Deutsche Telekom AG earlier this week.

Greece's government has been seeking a strategic investor for the company, after selling a 10.7 percent stake in June. Deutsche Telekom said it would buy a 20 percent stake in OTE for about 2.5 billion euros ($3.86 billion) from Marfin Investment Group Holdings SA.

The government maintains a 28.03 percent stake in OTE.