On the strength of a positive quarterly report, Telefónica opened up 0.8 percent Monday at €13.38. Spain’s biggest telecommunications group and the world’s third largest telecom, reported that its net profits rose 36 percent in the quarter ending March 31, to €912 million ($1.15 billion). The company’s revenues rose 17 percent on the quarter, to €8.3 billion, mostly due to its purchase of 10 Latin American mobile phone companies from BellSouth last year.

The company has predicted that revenue will grow 12 to 15 percent this year, putting the first quarter well in front of expectations. Telefónica currently has 131 million subscribers around the world, including 3.5 million broadband subscribers. These broadband subscribers helped the company post a rise in sales of 6 percent in its fixed-line division despite strong competition from other providers. Profits also benefited from job cuts in Telefónica’s Spanish
fixed-line division.