Australia's Telstra lifted its net profit for the six months ending in December by 9.7% to A$1.7 billion ($1.52 billion), due in part to 4G gains and the company's ongoing expansion into network applications and services (NAS).
Revenue increased 4.1% to A$12.8 billion, with mobile revenue up 6.4% to A$4.86 billion. The operator added 739,000 Australian retail mobile customers during the half-year, to take its total mobile base to 15.8 million.
Telstra CEO David Thodey said the mobile gains can be attributed to its 4G network. “Telstra has one of the fastest take-ups of the 4G network anywhere in the world,” he said, noting that the company now has 4.1 million 4G mobile devices on its network.
The company's NAS business – which encompasses managed network services including cloud, security and unified communications - meanwhile recorded revenue growth of 29% for the period to A$821 million.
The divestment of Hong Kong mobile business CSL and of a majority stake in directories division Sensis for A$454 million also contributed to Telstra's growth.
Fixed-line revenue continued its steady decline, falling 1.5% to A$3.63 billion, as data and IP revenue dipped 2.9% to A$1.49 billion.
Looking ahead to the full financial year ending in June, Telstra maintained its guidance of “low single digit” income and ebitda growth.