Deutsche Telekom: 'Debts stay. For now'

NEWS Deutsche Telekom, has admitted that it will miss its 2002 target to reduce its debt by E12.1bn (£7.5bn). The troubled German telecommunications group had hoped to bring its debts - currently standing at E62.1bn (£38.6bn) - down to E50bn (£31bn) by the end of this year. That target won't be reached until the end of 2003, the company has now conceded. It has not been a good start to the year for DT, which was forced to delay the flotation of its mobile business, T-Mobile, in January for a third time. In February the German regulators blocked a proposed E5.5bn (£3.4bn) sale of Liberty Media. Meanwhile, preliminary results show a E3.5bn (£2.2bn) loss for the financial year.