Alder and Sundt still can’t see eye-to-eye

Swisscom chief executive Jens Alder yesterday restated the telco’s interest in acquiring Telekom Austria, with a view to merging the two operators to create a formidable pan-European telecoms group. However, his opposite number at Telekom Austria, Heinz Sundt, said he was still unsure whether a deal between the pair could be agreed, despite the obvious operational advantages of a tie-up. The two made the comments following the publication of their respective companies’ annual financials. The Swisscom Group said its net profit increased by more than 90% to CHF1.57 billion in 2003, despite total turnover remaining flat at CHF14.58 billion, whilst Telekom Austria said its consolidated net income increased tenfold to EUR134.2 million on the back of a 1.6% rise in revenues to EUR3.97 billion.