Telstra maintains earnings guidance

Telstra has maintained its full-year earnings guidance and is aiming to lift dividends over time. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIA'S biggest telco, Telstra, has maintained its full-year earnings guidance and is aiming to lift dividends over time.

Telstra said on Wednesday that it expects to pay fully franked dividends totalling 28 cents per share in fiscal 2013, in line with prior years.

"We have continued revenue, profit and customer growth," Telstra deputy chief financial officer Mark Hall told a Macquarie Australia equities conference in Sydney.

"Our strategic focus remains unchanged, and, most importantly, we are on track for full-year guidance."

Telstra shares had lifted two cents to $5.00 by 1410 AEST - around their highest range since July 2005, according to IRESS data.

Mr Hall said the unchanged guidance for 2013 included low single-digit growth for both total income and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), and a capex (capital expenditure) to sales ratio of 15 per cent.

Mr Hall said Telstra's outlook for EBITDA growth was at the top end of its guidance range.

Telstra aimed to ensure that its dividend remains fully franked, and subject to board approval, to increase it over time.

The telco was constrained from increasing a fully franked dividend at the moment by its franking account balance.

"Our key focus operationally is to grow the business over time, which would provide the opportunity to increase our franking balance and then give us the capacity to grow dividends," Mr Hall said.

Mr Hall said Telstra was investing $1.2 billion in its wireless network this fiscal year and Telstra's 4G network would cover 66 per cent of the population by June this year.

Capacity was critical, with the average Australian now spending 12 hours per week accessing the internet on a mobile device.

Most customers were using their smartphone to watch video content.

Mr Hall said that in the third quarter of the financial year, Telstra's net customer numbers had grown across all mobile categories.

Telstra's 4G network now had 2.1 million customers, including 1.4 million handsets; 150,000 tablets; 370,000 dongles; and 225,000 wifi hotspots.

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