On November 18, 1996, a stock market frenzy broke out in Germany. On that day, the so-called T-share, the paper of the German Telekom, celebrated its debut on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

„As safe as an additional pension“ the T-share (WKN: 555750) would be, the then Telekom CEO had promised – millions of Germans had believed him. On the first trading day, 713 million shares were sold, around 20 billion marks, almost ten billion euros, the Deutsche Telekom took in. Not all applicants got the coveted paper, the Telekom could have sold 5 times as many shares due to the high demand.

In the first years after the IPO, things went perfectly for the investors. The share price multiplied sevenfold. At the third IPO, the issue price per share was 66 euros, many invested despite the high price. They did not know that something was already wrong. A year later, the paper only cost 9 euros – a shock for the investors.

The sting of disappointment sits deep. The loss of confidence in stock investments was gigantic and the disaster still affects the stock culture in Germany today.

Most Germans can’t win a flower pot with the T-share, but actually the share is better than its reputation. If you are looking for a conservative, dividend-strong share, the share of Deutsche Telekom could be interesting for you.

The sales have fallen 5% this year to 27.5 billion euros, but still better than expected. Positively, the number of Telekom customers is increasing. In Germany it went up 13% – to almost 60 million. In the USA it looks even better. T-Mobile US was delighted with an increase of 6% to 118 million mobile phone customers.

1.8 billion dollars dividend expected. Telekom holds more than half of the shares of T-Mobile US and can look forward to more than 300 million dollars in dividend payments alone in the final quarter. In addition, 1.8 billion dollars in dividends are expected in the next five quarters.

Telekom shareholders in Germany should also receive a higher payout. The dividend is expected to increase by 10% to 77 cents per share for the current year. That corresponds to a dividend yield of 3.5%.

Interesting for potential investors is also that the Telekom plans a share buyback program with a volume of two billion euros for 2024. This should support the share price.

Since the beginning of the year, the share is up almost 15%. The expected PE ratio of 12 is not too expensive.

The T-share is not a highflyer for your portfolio, but could be an interesting conservative addition. A look is worthwhile. Then you can decide better whether the share would be something for your portfolio.