Deutsche Telekom eyes further growth in 2014, 2015

German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom said on Thursday it met its 2013 targets and is counting on business in the United States to boost overall sales this year and next year. "We reached our financial targets for 2013 and building on our successes last year, we plan to invest further in growth," Deutsche Telekom said in a statement. On the bottom line, net profit amounted to 930 million euros ($1.3 billion) compared with a net loss of 5.353 billion euros a year earlier. Underlying or operating profit declined by 12 percent to 15.834 billion euros while sales increased by 3.4 percent to 60.132 billion euros. Chief executive Tim Hoettges said revenues were expected to "grow slightly in the 2014 financial year, and at a higher rate in the following year. "This growth is mainly attributable to the United States, where T-Mobile US intends to increase the number of customers this year," Hoettges said. At the same time, underlying profit "is expected to remain stable in the current year, and to increase in 2015," he added.