By Roshan Thomas
Aug 13 (Reuters) – Australia’s Telstra Group unveiled a A$1 billion ($705.9 million) share buyback on Thursday and reported a marginal rise in annual profit, driven by growth in its mobile business and higher customer spending.
The telecom firm posted profit attributable of A$2.24 billion for the year ended June 30, up 3.2% from year-ago levels. That was slightly below a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$2.30 billion.
Telstra announced the buyback after completing a A$1.25 billion repurchase programme in June, citing earnings growth and balance-sheet strength.
Revenue at Telstra’s mobile segment, its largest and accounting for about 44% of group income, grew 3.2% to A$11.37 billion in 2026, helped by higher average revenue per user (ARPU) and mobile service revenue growth.
The company said ARPU rose across all categories, brands and segments during the year.
The country’s top telecom firm also implemented a series of tariff increases over the past year that helped lift customer spending and support earnings growth in its core mobile division.
It forecast its 2027 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation after leases (EBITDAaL) of A$8.5 billion to A$8.8 billion and cash EBIT between A$4.75 billion and A$4.95 billion.
Telstra declared a higher final dividend of 10.5 Australian cents per share, from 9.5 Australian cents last year.
TELSTRA DOUBLES DOWN ON GROWTH DESPITE OUTAGES
Telstra’s focus on its mobile and infrastructure businesses comes as it seeks to cement its position as Australia’s leading telecommunications provider in a highly competitive three-player market.
Chief Executive Vicki Brady said the company would continue investing in network resilience and customer experience under its Connected Future 30 strategy.
The comments come as Australia’s telecommunications sector faces heightened scrutiny following a series of network outages that affected millions of users.
Telstra also faced criticism last month after a software fault triggered a nationwide outage that disrupted phone services, wireless payments and some rail services.
“Vicki Brady has spent the past month answering for July’s failure, and a result like this buys her some breathing room,” said Josh Gilbert, lead analyst for APAC & Middle East at eToro.
“But reputational damage doesn’t clear overnight and with the ACCC’s inquiry still live, the regulatory questions will run well into the new year.”
Shares of the telco firm slipped 0.5% to A$4.975 in early trade.
($1 = 1.4166 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Roshan Thomas and Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Diti Pujara and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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