Telstra announces A$1 billion buyback as annual profit edges up

Telstra Group has announced a A$1 billion share buyback alongside a modest rise in annual profit, driven by stronger mobile revenue and higher customer spending.

The company reported attributable profit of A$2.24 billion for the year ended June 30, up 3.2% from A$2.17 billion a year earlier. The result came in slightly below the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$2.30 billion.

The buyback follows the completion of a A$1.25 billion repurchase programme in June. Telstra cited earnings growth and balance-sheet strength as reasons for the new capital return.

Mobile revenue, which accounts for roughly 44% of group income, grew 3.2% to A$11.37 billion. The company said average revenue per user (ARPU) improved across all categories, brands, and segments, helped by a series of tariff increases over the past year.

Telstra declared a final dividend of 10.5 Australian cents per share, up from 9.5 cents last year.

For fiscal 2027, the company forecast EBITDA after leases in the range of A$8.5 billion to A$8.8 billion, and cash EBIT between A$4.75 billion and A$4.95 billion.

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 amid heightened scrutiny of Australia's telecom sector following a series of network outages.

Telstra faced criticism last month after a software fault caused 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 slipped 0.5% to A$4.975 in early trade.