Telefónica, the Spanish telecommunications group, on Thursday reported a slight year-on-year increase in first-half net profits as continued growth in Latin America helped offset a sharp downturn in the home market and negative currency factors.

The company, among the world’s largest in its sector, said net profits for the six months to the end of June were €3.62bn ($5.08bn), 0.7 per cent ahead of the €3.6bn posted at the same stage last year. After stripping out capital gains in 2008, the increase was nearly 11 per cent, according to Telefónica.