Australian operator Telstra saw its total income on a reported basis increase 1.2 per cent to AUD 26.6 billion for the financial year 2015. EBITDA declined 3.5 percent to AUD 10.7 billion in the period. On a guidance basis, total income increased 2.3 percent to AUD 26.3 billion and EBITDA climbed 2 percent to AUD 10.8 billion, consistent with FY15 guidance. Net profit after tax dropped 5.8 percent, reflecting the growth in the business less the CSL operating results and one off profit from the sale of CSL Hong Kong mobile business in May 2014.
Earnings per share grew 0.3 percent to 34.5 cents. Final dividend increased to 15.5 cents per share taking total dividend for FY15 to 30.5 cents per share. Telstra saw net additions of 664,000 retail mobile customer services and 189,000 retail fixed broadband customers during FY15.
In total, over three years to June 2017, Telstra expects to invest over AUD 5 billion into its mobile network. It plans to continue to expand its 4G coverage to reach 99 percent of the population.
In 2016 Telstra expects to deliver mid-single digit income growth and low-single digit EBITDA growth. Free cash flow is expected to range between AUD 4.6 billion and AUD 5.1 billion and capital expenditure to be around 15 percent of sales to fund increased mobile network investment.
