Telstra’s underlying earnings (before interest,tax,depreciation and amortisation) fell 9.7 per cent to $6.7 billion. That included a $650 million hit from customers shifting to the NBN and $380 million from the loss of international roaming due to a decline in overseas tourism due to COVID-19.
The company is forecasting underlying earnings[before interest,tax,depreciation and amortisation] to be between $7 billion and $7.3 billion in the next financial year,which would mark a return to earnings growth for the first time since 2017.
Investors Mutual portfolio manager Daniel Moore,who owns shares in Telstra on behalf of clients,said there was now a “clear line of sight” for growth for the telco,which has been heavily impacted in recent years by a competitive mobile market.
“We are already starting to see[the growth],” Mr Moore said. “EBITDA at the group level has turned finally and that’s still with NBN headwinds.”
Telstra’s statutory earnings fell 14.2 per cent to $7.6 billion,while total income fell 11.6 per cent to $23.1 billion for the 2021 financial year.
Mobile services revenue,a figure closely watched by analysts,increased 3.7 per cent in the second half or 5.2 per cent when excluding the impact of international roaming. Telstra is forecasting earnings growth for its mobile business in the 2022 financial year.
“When you start lifting prices it can take up to two years for the increase to roll through,” Mr Moore said. “The mobile business has had really good momentum and that should continue for at least another couple of years.”