Telstra has posted a rise in first-half earnings on the back of 1 million new mobile subscribers, which offset a fall in sales at its Yellow Pages Sensis business.
The telco reported a net profit of AUD$1.48 billion in the six months to December 31, up from $1.21 billion a year earlier.
Earnings rose 3.7% before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), with sales up 1.1% in the half.
"Last year we recorded one of our best years for customer growth. This momentum has continued into the first half of fiscal 2012," chief executive officer David Thodey said in a statement.
"Our strategy is unchanged. We will continue to focus on improving customer satisfaction, growing customer numbers, simplifying the business and taking advantage of new growth opportunities," he said.
Telstra revealed it had attracted 958,000 additional domestic mobile customers, including 338,000 postpaid handheld and 436,000 mobile broadband customers in the half. The company's mobile business mobile sales rose 10.9% in the half to $4.393 billion.
But the Yellow Pages business is struggling to convince consumers to buy into its digital products and is expecting a revenue decline "in the high teens" for the full year. In the first half, Sensis sales fell 24.1%, with EBITDA down 54.9%.
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