Earnings drop at merged mobile phone giants

The company behind merged mobile phone giants Orange and T-Mobile today posted a drop in sales and earnings in its first annual results.

Everything Everywhere, which was formed last year, said underlying earnings were hit by regulation costs and investment in customer contract growth.

Having announced in September that it was cutting 7.5% of its 16,000 strong workforce, the firm said turnover in the nine months to December 31 was £5.3bn (€6.26bn), down from £5.4bn (€6.37bn) in the same period a year earlier.

Underlying earnings were £1bn (€1.18bn), down from £1.1bn (€1.3bn).

But Everything Everywhere said it was on track to achieve the goals it set out when the merger was formed, including hitting its synergies target of £3.5bn (€4.13bn).