Greece's OTE suffers 4Q profit drop

Greece's main telecoms provider OTE on Friday said profit dropped 56 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The company statement said net profit reached euro100.1 million ($136.2 million) in the October-December period, compared with euro229.6 million ($312.4 million) in the same period in 2007.

Profit fell slightly on the year _ dipping 9.2 percent euro601.8 million ($818.9 million) in 2008, compared with euro662.6 million ($901.6 million) the previous year.

Last year, the Greek government and Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG struck a deal on sharing OTE ownership and management control.

Under the agreement, the government and Deutsche Telekom each gained control of 25 percent plus one share of OTE.

OTE, the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA, controls or owns stakes in mobile and communications companies in six southeast European countries.

"Though we continue to believe that the telecommunications sector will be more resilient than most, we will face a number of challenges," OTE Chairman and CEO Panagis Vourloumis said.

He said these include "irrational pricing moves by fixed and mobile competitors, declining currencies in certain countries (and) unpredictable regulatory decisions."