Telstra first-half profit up 11 per cent to $1 billion

A fresh privacy scandal has hit Telstra, with thousands having their silent numbers published. Photo: AAP
Telstra has posted a $1 billion first-half net profit, up 11.5 per cent from the same time a year ago, as its core mobile business continued to grow.
Income grew 1.2 per cent in the six months to December 31 to $1 billion, while underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amoritisation and depreciation (EBITDA) rose 3.8 per cent to $4 billion.
Telstra CEO Vicki Brady said the group’s overall momentum was good, with continued growth across the telecommunication giant’s mobile, fixed consumer and small business and infrastructure divisions.
“Our mobiles business remains central to growth and continues to perform strongly, growing EBITDA almost $300 million in the half driven by more customers, ARPU (average revenue per user) growth and cost discipline,” said Brady.
Within its enterprise fixed business, Telstra’s data and connectivity division is doing well but its Network Applications and Services division is “clearly a long way from where we need it to be,” Brady said.
Telstra also said it had begun a review of its domestic enterprise business, with a set of significant actions to address performance, both cost and revenue-based.
– AAP