Telstra's advertising and directories arm Sensis has reported a 6.4% downturn in revenue.
Sensis' total income dropped by 5.9% to $1,787 million, while EBITDA declined by 9.3% to $993 million.
Telstra said the drop was due to natural disasters on Australia's east coast, but also due to an increased investment in Sensis' digital strategy. In March 2011, Sensis launched a digital strategy for long term growth.
The biggest drop was seen by Sensis' Yellow Pages arm which saw revenue slide by 11.4%. Yellow Pages print directories fell 15.8%, but this was offset by growth in digital of 6.3%.
A Telstra spokesman said: "The shift to online advertising led to the implementation of a digital strategy at Sensis. Since its launch in March, the company has recorded encouraging early take-up of digital products. Telstra remains confident that the strategy will capitalise on digital marketing opportunities in the small business market."
More generally, Telstra has posted a drop in profits, with a decline of 17.5% to $3,250 million, Telstra's sales revenue saw a slight increase of 0.7% to $24,983 million.
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