{
  "id": 14125364,
  "title": "Comment: €138 billion in debt – Telekom is doing the opposite of what would be necessary",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/kommentar-138-milliarden-euro-schulden-die-telekom-tut-das-gegenteil",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-13T05:17:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/meinung/kommentare/kommentar-138-milliarden-euro-schulden-die-telekom-tut-nicht-das-noetige-01/100260751.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Fresenius had net financial debt of 24.7 billion euros at the start of 2023. The healthcare company issued a 500 million euro bond in 2023 with a 5.125 percent coupon. Fresenius' debt has since decreased to 10 billion euros. In contrast, companies like Eon and Deutsche Telekom with high debt levels have faced higher borrowing costs. Eon issued a 1 billion euro bond in 2024 with a 4.125 percent interest rate, while Deutsche Telekom issued a bond in 2025 with a 3.625 percent coupon.",
  "summary": "One Dax group is reducing debt, while the other pays dividends and buys back shares. On the stock exchange and the bond market, it is clear which strategy is now bitterly punishing.",
  "key_points": [
    "Fresenius accumulated 24.7 billion euros in net financial debts in 2022/23.",
    "Deutsche Telekom issued a 1 billion euro bond with 4.125% nominal interest in 2024.",
    "Deutsche Telekom reduced its debt levels, unlike Fresenius."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Deutsche Telekom’s strategy of issuing bonds at higher market yields contrasts with Fresenius’s approach, signaling a different method for managing debt levels and securing capital in the current market.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}