­Netherlands based KPN has reported a 32% drop in its third-quarter profits as the company was hurt by increased competition in Germany. The company posted a 6.5% fall in revenues of EUR3.05 billion and net profit down a third to EUR205 million.

KPN Group revenues and other income were 6.5% or EUR 212m lower y-on-y due to the sale of Getronics International (3.7% impact) and declining revenues in The Netherlands. 

KPN's CEO, Eelco Blok "Against an uncertain and challenging macro environment we have seen mixed performance across the group. We are on track in The Netherlands to reach our 2012 market share targets," however adding that in Germany, competition on price has intensified in recent quarters which is leading to a slow-down in E-Plus' top line growth. The growth from higher postpaid net adds is being offset by customers optimizing their tariffs."

Net debt at the end of Q3 2012 remained stable compared to Q2 2012, amounting to EUR 12.4 billion.

Mexico's America Movil earlier this year launched a hostile investment in the company, buying up 27.5% of the company's shares. To KPN's knowledge, no other shareholder owned 5% or more of its shares.