On Tuesday, Dutch operator KPN reaffirmed its full-year earnings forecast, buoyed by continued commercial momentum, even though its Q3 results fell short of expectations due to weakness in its business-to-business (B2B) services.

The July-September quarter ended with adjusted EBITDA after rents (EBITDA AL) up more than 4% to €672m, with revenue up 2% to €1.45bn.

The consumer services segment grew by 1.1%, while the professional services segment grew by 1.4%, a performance below expectations.

"The trend in B2B could be considered worrying, even if this disappointment can be put into perspective given that all of the group's divisions are growing," said one trader.

The operator reiterated its annual forecasts, saying it still expects adjusted EBITDA AL of more than €2.63bn and free cash flow (FCF) of at least €940m.

KPN has scheduled an investor day for Wednesday, November 5.

On the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, KPN shares were down 2% at noon on Tuesday, while the AEX index was down 0.5%.