Hold the phone: Telstra dials up massive 26 per cent profit increase as mobiles boom
Telstra has posted a 26 per cent increase in first-half profit, driven by momentum from its mobiles business and the Digicel Pacific acquisition.
A series of bungles left Australians without access to emergency numbers for as much as an hour ". (Image: Telstra)
Australia’s biggest telecommunications company on Thursday reported net profit of $934 million for the six months to December 31, up from $743 million the previous year.
Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) climbed 11.4 per cent to $3.9 billion, while total income for the half-year rose 6.4 per cent to $11.58 billion on the back of momentum from its mobiles business and the recent Digicel Pacific acquisition.
“We are a growing business with a lot to be excited about in our future, and our T25 strategy provides a clear road map to get us there,” new CEO Vicki Brady said.
Revenue in Telstra’s key mobiles business rose 9.5 per cent to $5.1 billion and remained the largest contributor to Telstra’s earnings.
The fixed-line consumer and small business segment revenue was largely flat at $2.3 billion.
International revenue soared 51.5 per cent to $1.1 billion, thanks to the government-backed acquisition of Digicel Pacific last year.
However, revenue for the enterprise business dropped 2.5 per cent to $1.8 billion, which the company blamed on competition and ongoing disruption from technology change.
The telecommunications giant reaffirmed its full-year guidance, but said revenue is now expected to be at the lower end of the $23 billion to $25 billion guidance range because of mobile hardware and fixed-product revenues being lower than expected.
Telstra will pay a fully franked interim dividend of 8.5 cents a share, a 6.3 per cent improvement from a year ago.
