Telstra profit up 13.5 percent

Telstra's annual profit rose 13.5 percent to A$3.7 billion (US$3.2 billion) for the year ended on June 30, the company announced Wednesday.

Sales revenue rose 4.2 percent to $24.7 billion across Telstra's retail units including broadband and mobiles, up $1 billion from last year's figures.

Telstra's retail broadband revenue increased by 49 percent to $1.8 billion, while ailing PSTN revenues fell by 3.2 percent to $6.7 billion, a slight improvement on last year's decline of 4.4 percent. Losses continued on wholesale lines and Unconditioned Local Loop services with PSTN services falling by 390,000 to 9.4 million.

Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo said fiscal projections have been met or exceeded for the third year running.

Retail sales revenue rose 5.9 percent, including a 3.6 percent revenue increase in Telstra's Enterprise and Government division which the company said is the strongest since competition commenced.

Mobile services revenue increase by 12.3 percent to $5.5 billion, including an Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) growth of 7.8 percent in Telstra's Next G network to $49 per month.

3G penetration more than doubled since June 2007 to 47 percent or 4.4 million subscribers.