In preliminary results for the first three months of this year, the German telecom giant said its revenue was growing by about 16% year on year.

Over 2002 as a whole, the firm now predicts net profit of 15.9bn-16.9bn euros (�9.7bn-10.4bn; $14.1bn-15bn).

If that target is met, it will represent a major turnaround from last year's performance, when Deutsche Telekom recorded a net loss of 3.5bn euros, mainly due to write-downs and other balance-sheet expenses.

With fewer unusual expenses and more disposals planned for this year, the firm said it was confident of getting back well into the black.

Wireless support

The key organ of growth in the Deutsche Telekom group is T-Mobile, which saw its revenues surge 66% during the quarter.

But even the firm's ambitious cost-cutting targets only envisage reducing net debt by some 2bn euros a year.

Chastened

Deutsche Telekom has suffered a severe reversal of fortune over the past year.

A wildly popular share in the wake of its 1996 flotation, it has performed extremely weakly over the past two years.

Many shareholders have argued that the company's management has lacked direction, involving the firm in a series of ambitious and expensive acquisitions, while its core German market was eaten away by deregulation.

The company has resisted calls to dispense with chairman Ron Sommer, but has pledged to stick to a more conservative policy in future.