OTE first-quarter core profit drops 1.7 pct

Greece's biggest telecoms operator OTE posted on Thursday a 1.7 percent drop in first-quarter core profit, hurt by tough conditions in crisis-hit Greece and Romania.

OTE, the former national monopoly now 40 percent owned and managed by Germany's Deutsche Telekom, said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at 304.1 million euros ($330.83 million) in the first three months of the year, down from 309.3 million euros a year earlier.

The figure strips out one-off items. [Reuters]