Deutsche Telekom Loses $2.17 Billion

Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s biggest phone company, had a fourth-quarter loss of $2.17 billion on costs tied to the purchase of VoiceStream Wireless Corp. and new mobile-phone licenses. The loss was little changed from a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the loss almost doubled to $1.65 billion.

With debt at $54.1billion, interest payments and goodwill costs related to the purchases will remain a drag on earnings, investors said.

The fourth-quarter deficit gave Deutsche its first annual loss since the company sold shares to the public in 1996. Deutsche lost $3.1billion, contrasted with a profit of $5.1billion the previous year. Excluding one-time items, the company had a loss of $4.1billion. Its stock fell 3%, giving the company a market value of about $61billion.