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Preston 11 August 2022(AE)Despite reporting a decline in annual profit, Telstra increased its dividend for the first time in seven years, increasing its fully franked dividend and giving $1.9 billion to shareholders.
The telco giant announced its full-year results, the final under departing CEO Andy Penn, and reported a nett profit after tax of $1.8 billion for the 12 months ended June 30. This was a decrease of 4.6% year over year.
Earnings per share of 14.4 cents were down 7.7 percent, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation were down 5%, and total income was down 4.7%.
The results, which were in line with Telstra’s projections and analyst predictions, were impacted in part by headwinds related to the NBN’s final phase, which Mr. Penn described as a “big and unpleasant pill to swallow.”
The company will pay a fully-franked dividend of 8.5 cents per share on September 22, increasing the total final payout to 16.5 cents per share despite the significant hit to its numbers.
The board has increased the total Telstra dividend for the first time since 2015, Mr. Penn said on Thursday. “This shows the board’s confidence following the success of our T22 strategy, the ambition of our T25 strategy of high-teens EPS growth from FY21 to FY25, the strength of our balance sheet, and the board’s recognition of the dividend’s importance to shareholders.”
