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France Telecom says to reach full-year target
France Telecom, Europe's third-biggest operator, said on Friday it was on track to hit its full-year targets, after concerns that costs related to a string of staff suicides might blow it off course.
In late October, the firm posted third-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of 4.56 billion euros (US$6.72 billion) and warned that measures aimed at easing tensions with staff could cost up to a billion euros.
"We are exactly in line with what we have said at the end of the year, and I consider that we will be able to deliver the performance we have promised to the market for the full year for France Telecom," Chief Executive Officer Didier Lombard told a news conference in Vietnam's capital.
He did not give any figures.
Lombard said the company did not plan to establish a subsidiary in Vietnam, where it has been cooperating with top telecoms group Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications (VNPT) for 12 years.
It has also been working with MobiFone, one of the country's leading mobile phone operators, owned by VNPT, since 2007 on network distribution.
"The Vietnam market is more aggressive than anywhere we are," Lombard said after signing an agreement with VNPT to share know-how and provide training.
"If we do something it will be in the field of equalization with the Vietnamese partner," he said, referring to the privatization process under which MobiFone could sell up to a 30 percent stake to foreign investors.
Under World Trade Organization commitments, Vietnam will open its telecoms market from 2010, and foreign firms will be allowed to establish fully owned units to provide telecoms services.
In January this year state-run media cited a Credit Suisse report that valued MobiFone at $2 billion. Its initial public offering had been scheduled for the second quarter of this year but has been delayed for undisclosed reasons.
Lombard declined to say how much of a stake in MobiFone the firm wanted to buy at its IPO.
thanhnien, reuters
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