Rene Obermann has suffered his first major setback as chief executive of Deutsche Telekom.

Last week, DT became the first big European telecoms operator to issue a profit warning, just eight weeks after saying it could repeat its 2008 earnings performance in 2009.

As well as denting Mr Obermann’s credibility, the warning scared investors. Some feared DT’s profit warning indicated telecoms operators were no longer a safe haven in the global recession.

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www.ft.com/cms/s/0/08119ac4-3289-11de-8116-00144feabdc0.html