Greece’s OTE Telecom posts 1.9 pct drop in core profit

Greece’s biggest telecoms operator OTE posted a 1.9 percent drop in fourth-quarter core profit on Thursday, with tough conditions in its foreign operations more than offsetting domestic growth.

The former national monopoly, now 40 percent owned and managed by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 337 million euros ($413.70 million) for the quarter, down from 343.7 million euros a year earlier. ($1 = 0.8146 euros)