Economic Calendar

Saturday, October 25, 2008

France Telecom Doesn't See Cut in Targets; Concerned on Economy

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By Chiara Remondini and Tommaso Ebhardt

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- France Telecom SA, Europe's third- largest phone company, isn't planning to cut its full-year targets in spite of concern about market turmoil and the economic situation.

``We're not changing our plan but we're a little bit nervous,'' Chief Executive Officer Didier Lombard said in an interview in Venice today. ``Nobody understands what's happening in the market.''

On July 31, France Telecom repeated its outlook for full- year cash flow and stable profit margins. The company predicted gross operating profit as a percentage of sales to remain stable and organic cash flow of more than 7.8 billion euros ($9.9 billion).

``Everybody continues to telephone, and phones more when there's a crisis, but it's the general economy which is of high concern for us,'' Lombard said.

France Telecom is set to report third-quarter quarter earnings Oct. 30.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chiara Remondini in Milan at cremondini@bloomberg.net




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