Deutsche Telekom reported Thursday its net earnings trebled in the first quarter amid a challenging business environment.

"At 1.8 billion euros ($2.5 billion), profits were more than three times higher than in the same period a year earlier," the company said in a statement. "This is attributable to income from the partial sale of the Scout24 group."

Deutsche Telekom said it had parted with a 70-percent stake in that online portal. Adjusted for the windfall from the divestment, net earnings would actually have fallen by almost 4 percent to just 587 million euros.

US success story

Revenues grew by 8 percent in the first quarter. "Thanks to the booming US business, we upped the pace of growth," Chief Executive Tim Höttges commented.

"Our decision to invest boldly in this market was right on the mark as we once again delivered Q1 figures confirming we're on the right track," he added.

Looking ahead, the company said it was sticking to its forecast for the full year, with underlying profit expected to come in at around 17.6 billion euros.

hg / rs (dpa, AFP)