The net profit posted by the Portugal Telecom (PT) group from January to September, of 305 million euros, was mainly from the sale of the group’s stake in Macau telecommunications company Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau (CTM), the group said in a regulatory filing of its accounts.

The group said at the beginning of the year that it had agreed to sell its 28 percent stake in CTM to CITIC Telecom International Holdings (CITIC Telecom) for 3.19 billion Hong Kong dollars (330 million euros at the exchange rate on the date of the sale).

PT’s consolidated operating revenues fell by 8.8 percent to 4.547 billion euros and the group explained that this was due to “a drop in revenues from the telecommunications businesses in Portugal and by the smaller contribution of other international businesses, specifically Contax, Cabo Verde Telecom and Timor Telecom.”

In terms of the Portuguese market, PT said that telecommunications revenues fell by 5.9 percent to 1.92 billion euros, and that the residential segment had been the only one to see “continuous growth,” of 1.3 percent to 541 million euros.

Looking at the third quarter in isolation, the PT group’s net profit fell by 66.4 percent to 21 million euros, whilst operating revenues fell by 11.3 percent to 1.454 billion euros. (macauhub)