MILAN : Telecom Italia core profit fell a touch less than feared last year, helped by lower costs and some signs of improvement in its battered domestic business in the fourth quarter, the former Italian phone monopoly said on Tuesday.
Total group service revenue rose by 1.3 per cent to 14.6 billion euros, exceeding analysts expectations for a rise of 0.6 per cent and the company's target for a 'low single digit decrease'. Earlier this month, U.S. investment firm KKR, which is already a minority investor in TIM's landline grid, offered to buy a controlling stake in a unit comprising TIM's fixed network assets and submarine cable unit Sparkle.