France Telecom reports rise in Q4 revenues

France Telecom reported a 3.2% rise in fourth-quarter revenue, saying it expects 2006 full-year net profit to fall from the previous year, an Associated Press report said.

The Associated Pres report said France Telecom's revenue rose to 13.26 billion euros ($17.18 billion) in October through December from 12.85 billion euros ($16.7 billion) in the year-earlier quarter.

The company said it expects full-year 2006 net profit to fall to between 4 billion euros ($5.2 billion) and 4.2 billion euros ($5.4 billion) from 5.7 billion euros ($7.4 billion) in 2005, the report said.

Full-year revenue grew 7.5% to 51.7 billion euros ($67 billion) from 48.01 billion ($62.6 billion) the previous year, broadly in line with analysts' expectations.

The France Telecom revenue news follows a downward revision by Deutsche Telekom for its 2007 sales and earnings expectations, which sent telecom stocks reeling across Europe, the Associated Press report further said.