Tele Danmark A/S, the Danish former state telecommunications operator, reported a rise in interim pre-tax profit to $267.9m, up 21.9%, on turnover up 10.2% at $1,400m. And the former state monopoly, which floated 48.3% of its shares on the Copenhagen bourse and New York Stock Exchange in April, the largest flotation in Danish history, expects much higher net profit for 1994 than last year’s $250.4m, even if interest rates fall. Part of the increase came from the acquisition of DanaData, a computer company purchased in April. Without its contribution Tele Danmark’s turnover rose 6.4%. The interim results topped analysts’ expectations, which ranged between $182.9m and $280.7m, the large range denoting division on how much falling bond prices would affect the company’s substantial securities portfolio, in the event the company took a $51.2m hit. Many of these bonds were purchased with the $3,130m cash raised from the flotation.
